The Vermilion Heart and Sable Quietus
by BlessfulheartAndreth2015
Summary: There has always been a unique view, that if Angels or Death are constructs of the mind. However, if one looks closely enough, several of both could be found in the real world. The real challenge is to know and learn what they could do in their lives. Claire, Hunk
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

**Chapter 1. "Prologue."**

A gentle breeze allowed a plastic bag fly across the sky. Eventually, the bag flicked aside as a commercial helicopter spun through the darkness over the forest

Just something in a place in the middle of nowhere. No names and just cash. A flash drop off, standard procedure. Little to no talk and just let the payment do the talking. A lone figure inside looked back to wave the pilot off.

The mood was authoritative, as dark and clouded as the night sky, all jokes and normal chatters are left behind, if the polite even try to say something funny, he will remind him to shut up.

It is another day, another dollar. There's always some sort of need that needs to be done. The figure was hired to leave to a town—in a forest as large as the one surrounding Tall Oaks city, not that unusual —but with the number of the calls the figure would get, it was a little frustrating, there was a flicker of lightning to the North.

The figure leaned forward slightly, scanning the dark. It had been clear all day, the clouds rolling in just before sunset; he was definitely going to go home soaking wet. He brought his wrist close to his mouth, "In position." The figure spoke with a masculine voice, it was deep and husky.

"Roger that." a male voice came from the radio. "Become the grey man."

"You know me," the figure replied. "I'm just a ghost."

He opened the door of the helicopter, without hesitation he jumped down and used his parachute. It was beginning to rain, and the forest become fogy and cold.

It took him mere seconds to let go of the parachute and fall to the ground.

With a sigh of pain he stood on his feet and observed his surroundings. There was a parting in the trees about a dozen meters ahead, a path big enough to be a narrow road, though he went deeper through the trees to avoid been seen. All the while wrapping up his parachute. It was stuffed back into a bag and left underneath a large rock hole. A dead drop location for someone else to come in and clear out the evidence.

With the coat no longer dancing on the wind, the figure turned away from the helicopter as it ascended toward the sky. The whipping sounds of the rotors faded from his ears as the helicopter seeped into the evening sky with a red light as its only indicator. The figure adjusted the coat in the spare moment.

He took his PDA and checked the road ahead of him, it appears in the map he needs to keep going straight until he sees the wooden sign in the middle of the path.

And thus he continued walking as quietly as possible.

It would be an hour's walk from the outskirts. The figure tugged on the front end of the coat to be adjusted.

Just like in all new zones, the location would have its quips and benefits. The benefits are usually part of the latter. Not that the figure cared all that much. A walk never killed a mercenary on their way to a job. The pay is good and the work is just as fulfilling. That walk was in complete silence, only the shoes and pants were the only things to be heard in the forest.

'Four days ago a call came in, more specifically, by a man. He wanted the figure to come to this open area and retrieve something for him from a man living there. The only reason, The figure accepted this mission is because there is something odd about the source, he could lead him to something he's looking for, not to mention the payment he promised.

At last he saw the end of the road, between darkened green grass of the small town came into view.

It was calm and peaceful, like the perfect place to spend vacation. Not that he would ever need one, in fact, places similar to Tall Oaks were always something the figure considered drab and mediocre. The architecture was that to welcome any and all who would took residence here. Well, those who could possibly afford to live here. The ocean nearby could have helped in location's value.

The figure studied the area carefully and started to plan his next move to enter.

The people of the town have no idea what is going on, they only saw a well-dressed man walking with an umbrella.

Some of them even spoke to him and advised him of a motel close by to spend the night until the rain stops. It helped to ask useless questions to make oneself less of an outlier. He glanced at his PDA, it look liked he was near the rendezvous. Like always, it takes a professional to show up early for an arrangement. Punctuality is a key trait to have in this business.

The figure pocketed the PDA and paced along the sidewalk. A couple of gentle nods to fool the locals. The place he approached was a restaurant, he didn't bother to read the name.

The restaurant have a nice view of the coast, though at the time it was half empty.

He gently pushed the door open and entered. The umbrella closed then reversed back as it was flicked aside for the rain. It dribbled to the floor where the figure knew no one would walk over. Immediately, he was met by a young blonde waitress, she had a narrow, oblong face with angular cheekbones, her hair was short and it had razor edges around her cheeks, her eyes were hazel. "Hello sir." she said cheerfully. "Table for one?"

The place had tables in the left side looks over the green street, in the other side the coast can be seen in the small windows. The place is decorated with flowers in some corners it give a nice smell.

"Yeah." The figure replied and the waitress nodded. Without words, she turned around then took several steps forward to lead the figure to his table. As that happened, it was amble time to check the other patrons. An elderly man who clearly wasn't reading the daily newspaper. His eyes were too focused on the work force, specifically, the feminine ones. At the far right, at a booth, sat a woman with a crossword puzzle. No eager hands or a need to stare at him, the newest customer. The narrow down the list was a plan to observe the area for any possible threat

The waitress led him to a table that overlooks the street, and she gave him the menu. He didn't plan to eat anything, though to drink something that could warm him up sounded great. He just did walk for an hour straight.

The waitress noticed another customer that needed some attention. Before she left, the waitress told the man of the specials the restaurant offered that evening.

He glanced at the menu and nothing of note stood out to him.

"Excuse me sir?" he heard a voice of a woman behind him. Without looking back the woman continued. "I'm the chief here welcome to our humble place, may I take your order?"

A little odd that a chief would be out at the tables to take an order. Well this is out in new area, so it must just come with the region. This waitress/chief was dressed in rather clean clothes. The figure glanced at her nametag.

It read, HELLO MY NAME IS… Claire. In a font half the size of the nametag's lettering.

Then something flashed in the figure's mind. He was taken aback by the name he read.

She was wearing a clean white toque, double-breasted jacket and a black pants. Her face.., he did recognize her, "You come and meet people here?" he asked.

"Yes," she said with a smile. "It is something we do around in this area, so what's your order?"

He looked back at the menu and spoke as calm as any normal person can be. "I would like a cup of coffee and this type of chicken soup." He pointed directly at a specific image on the menu.

"You got it, five minutes and it will be here." she said and walked away from him.

The figure looked away from the waitress/chief. His lips pursed up and in a brief moment, scoffed to himself in a light laugh. What were the odds?

The figure was lucky enough his table had a newspaper left behind by another customer. He took hold of it as he began his wait for his contact. Several articles caught his attention as he would folded it slightly for him to observe his surroundings for the wait.

The figure's name is HUNK, and he's ready for his next mission.

...

A set of grey eyes opened to see a dull light brown ceiling, since the arrangement of the waves and curls of the paint always looked like cracks from the lighting. The same place that felt like a stranger. There wasn't any kind of longing to be here in her heart, for everything is still feels new to her. Just a place hold her belongings. The eye closed as the owner shifted in the bed to her right side, the feeling of her warm liquid emotions was obvious, she was crying after having another dream about a ghost in her past, a little girl she left behind because she wanted to look for her only family.

She noticed the clock in the nightstand...and it read. 9:30 A.M. In its annoying darkened red lights. The damn thing was so dim, when one is half asleep, the thing wasn't very helpful. The alarm on it was annoying enough to help on her daily life.

She heard a soft knock on her door. "Wake up, or you're going to be late." A voice that belonged to a young woman. The voice wasn't snarky nor angered, just one that sounded really really bored.

It was the voice of her friend Annie, someone that the grey eye owner rolled her eyes. It felt like her eyelids were weighed down by anvils but was too far awake to fall back into the embrace of sleep. She rolled to her side to look away from the door.

The two of them were in a small town, five hundred miles from Tall Oaks city. The two of them planned to have a vacation and spend some time in this town, start their own job and be close to the ocean.

The grey eyed woman is a good cook, she could make many things, while Annie is familiar with waitress work; so they decided to put their money together and open a restaurant.

Their business worked well enough, they gained a fine number of customers through five months since they started to work, and their restaurant built up a good reputation. Several customers started to show up by habit to the place. Not that she minded at all, in fact, she appreciate all of those who made the effort. They had to earn a specific amount of money, to pay the owner of the place or else they well lose it.

Many times in the months they spent here, they were forced to pay a large amount of money and spend the day without lunch or dinner.

Her name is Claire Redfield.

She had An overprotective brother whom she rarely sees or speak to anymore because of his job. Always out and about in the world.

Though she still felt exhausted, Claire pulled herself to a setting position rubbing her eyes. "I'm awake." she shouted. At last she rolled out of the bed, directly she went to her closet and prepared her uniform.

Then Claire looked at herself in the mirror, her red hair was much shorter now then it was before, barely long enough to reach the end of her neck, for she wanted to try something new and change her appearance. It felt like a bad thing to do at the same time. She shrugged the thought off.

In a hurry, she left her room and ran to the bathroom to take her usual shower as well as the morning routine. While her friend is down stairs fully dressed and preparing breakfast for the two of them.

There was a certain schedule they have here in the house, one day Claire wake up first get ready and make the breakfast, this day was Annie's turn to do it.

Annie prepared the plates and waited anxiously for her friend to come down. Her waiting lasted for five minutes until Claire came down the stairs wearing a white tank top and a black pants, her face looked red and puffy.

Annie noticed it directly after she came and took a seat in front of her. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Claire forced a smile. "I'm fine do not worry about me, I just..." she stopped for a moment to take her breath. "Did not sleep well last night."

Annie seemed to not believe her, but she wasn't willing to pressure her to talk. "Fine, I made your favorite breakfast, sublime scrambled eggs." she said and pushed the plate toward her. Claire didn't react right away as she stared at the table. Annie noticed this and made her play to have the plate poke Claire in her ribs gently. She did so three more times until Claire chuckled at her best friend.

"Oh thanks." Claire said and started her meal. In silence.

Annie was someone Claire met back in college. She made Claire's time on campus go from unbearable to tolerable. They had several classes together, studied together and became best friends. Claire knew deep down she was lucky to have somebody like Annie as a friend.

Annie broke the silence, "So I think Mark is going to ask me out today." she said in attempt to change the mood. Mark was a usual customer in their restaurant whom she happened to have a crush on him.

Claire smiled back at her. "Really, good for you, I wish you the best."

Annie finished her plate and went to the bathroom, it gave Claire enough time to get rid of the urge to sigh and close her eyes to try and stop the memories. Many times Annie reminded her of Leon, a police officer she met in Raccoon city, she really thought the two of them could have something, but they parted and he moved on his own as a government agent.

She never wanted to admit it, but the feeling of loneliness has taken over her, even Annie her good friend by her side felt the vibe.

Annie returned to the kitchen and she took her bag off the chair, "Let's go Claire,"

"Okay." Claire responded after her final bite of the egg.

They left their house at 10:15 A.M. it is their time to open and start working.

Their day was good and busy, Claire had to cook the special meal in the menu few times, and they earned a good amount of money. Until nightfall came and the storm hit the town.

Claire watched out the window in amusement, for she loved the rainy season.

"Maybe we should close, I do not think anyone will come in the middle of the storm." Annie called out to her.

Claire nodded in agreement, "just wait for a few minutes, maybe someone will come."

Claire went to the kitchen and fetched a glass of water for herself, she took a seat in the nearby chair close to the refrigerator. Taking a moment to rest when she heard. "Hello sir, table for one?"

Claire put down the glass and prepared herself to leave and meet this customer. "Alright, deep breath." She repeated her personal mantra and closed her eyes. In a single deep breath, Claire felt calm again.

Claire made her way out of the kitchen, at the same time Annie came her way. "We got a new guy, I never saw him before." Annie informed her. Claire looked over her shoulder.

"Probably a traveler or something." Annie added.

Claire slowly made her way to his table, she noticed he was tall with a medium brown straight hair. "Excuse me sir?" she noticed he lifted his head up acknowledging her, still he didn't turn to look at her. 'How rude.' she thought.

"I'm the chief here, welcome to our humble place." she spoke. At last the man looked at her, his eyes seems to be focusing on her name-tag for a few seconds "You come and meet people here?" he asked.

"Yes," she said with a smile. "It is something we do around in this area, so what's your order?"

 **Thank you for reading, please leave a review.**

 **Special thanks to The95will.**


	2. Chapter 2 Confusion

**Thank you ReaperFan for the nice review, it means alot to me.**

 **Chapter 2. "Confusion."**

Claire and Annie sat together and listened to the rain outside, after they closed the diner at last.

Their living room was cozy and well lit- a fire crackled in the chimney in front of them. The rain droplets drifted down the windows to make the outside look disorienting and to have the glow the lights seem brighter.

"You know Claire, sometimes I feel like you're avoiding me." Annie stated and prompted a surprised look from Claire. "Come on tell me what's in your mind." Annie added while laying back on the couch.

Claire closed her eyes, allowing her heart to relax. "You know I love you, right Annie?" Claire leaned forward from her seat. "It's just I'm not feeling too good."

"Is it about Sherry Birkin?" Annie asked as she put her arm on her eyes.

The name alone brought Claire pain, although she is good with masking her expressions, the pounding of her heart would give her away, it was too loud. "Yeah, I still remember her face. I didn't want to leave her, it was just that… I had no choice; I had to find Chris and make sure he was okay." Claire recalled the moments she met the little girl.

...

 **"Easy, easy - I'm not a zombie, it's okay..." Claire said and hold onto her hand tightly.**

 **The tone in her voice was warm and gentle.**

 **"... Easy, I'm not going to hurt you, you're safe now."**

 **Sherry finally raised her head to look at Claire.**

 **Claire's eyes were soft with concern and sympathy. Right there Sherry stopped trying to get away and felt the hot tears trickle down her face, without hesitation she hugged her and sobbed quietly, feeling Claire's hand gently rubbing her hair. "It's alright."**

...

Annie pulled herself to a sitting position, "Darling, I'm sure she'll understand."

Claire rolled her eyes at her and looked away. "Yeah right."

"Look she might feel sad, angry or probably both." Annie continued. "But she'll understand, let it go please you will reunite with her again. Then you can amend your relationship when it feels right for the both of you."

'Friends.' The word played in her mind, deep down Claire wondered how does she look now? According to her rough estimate Sherry should be about twenty years old.

Claire chuckled and spoke at last. "I heard she's in training to be an agent." She didn't know what specific agency or what kind of skills she was being taught. So it wouldn't be impossible for her to assume that Sherry could join the DSO.

Annie's lips curled into a smile. "See, it is like she is following yours and Leon's steps; by working on the field."

"I guess you're right." Claire replied. From the start of the conversation, Claire might as well come off with one of the topics that have been bugging her. "I worry about our time here. So what I'm thinking about finding another job for me someday."

Annie's eyes widened in shock, for it was the first time Claire spoke about something else. "What, are you going to leave me alone in this business?"

Claire waved her hand happily in front of her. "No no, not right now. Just listen, I feel like a chief is not who I am, I admit I love cooking but it's not a passion."

Claire spent a moment to let her thought settle for a moment. Once it did, Annie just responded with a nod.

"I understand. I tell you what, there's a guy who came to the diner. How about the two of you have some coffee and talk about work and passion?" Annie said with a wink.

Claire shook her head in disbelieve. "You just can't help it, can you?"

Annie laughed a little loud at the look in her face. "I love to tease you." Annie sighed and looked at Claire. "Do what you think is best."

A loud sound of glass crashing interrupted them. "What is that?" Annie made her way to the window then looked out for the source.

"Is everything alright in there?" Claire asked.

"I do not know I cannot see anything."

More eerie sound appeared, it looks like it's coming from their neighbor. Claire felt something within her heart, a feeling she knew all too well, and it is not welcome.

"No, I must be paranoid. There is nothing out there."

...

The figure walked in the dimly lit street and adjusted the collar of his coat.

His path had led him to an old bridge in the town, and he didn't have any choice other than to cross it. The shock of his weight upon it had shaken the bridge. How long was it since anyone had crossed it? Its stonework felt like it was ready to crumble under his feet. At the corner of his eye and basic observation it obviously weakened with age, and to his horror, he saw a crack snap open right across its width not five feet behind him. The pitch black jagged lines soon widened, and the masonry on either side of it began to fall, tumbling crazily down into the dark abyss.

As Hunk watched, time itself seemed to slow down. There was no longer any retreat. He realized immediately what was going to happen. Turning, he started to sprint, summoning every muscle in his straining body to this one last effort. He ran across the bridge to the other side, the structure fracturing and plummeting behind him. He could feel the stonework plunging away just as his heels left it.

Then at last, his chest practically splitting with the effort of breathing, he lay down on the ground, unable to think or do anything, he listened to the sounds of the stones of the bridge as it fell into the torrent below, he judged the sounds, until there was nothing, no sound at all but the wind mixed with the rain.

'The damn bridge was ready to give away just like that? The person in charge of the development at the bridge has a very special complaint in mind for him now.' Hunk shook his head on how it was heavily compromised and no one said a damn thing.

Gradually, Hunk's calmed his breathing to level it out. There was some aches in his muscles, forgotten in the hard moment.

He didn't prep himself for to do some kind of quick pace running. His left leg throbbed as the cold wind and rain soothed it somewhat.

'It's the price for wanting to be a ghost.' He thought to himself as he rolled to his hip to turn and did a quick push-up to get on his feet.

Like a dark shadow he made his way through the dirt path, with no light to give away his location. According to his PDA the house he needs to go up-ahead, he was told the man could be awake and watching over his office, he give him permission to kill him if he had to.

The road narrowed before him, he could see shadows moving about near the houses. 'Why people are still awake at this hour?'

He came closer to the empty place, there in the ground he saw shards of glass on the ground. The farther north he walked, the heavier his heart became, and he felt something was not right. Only the fire of the quest kept him on the path.

The man's house appeared before him, it was two story house with large front yard closed with a fence. The grass outside appeared to be well maintained.

Slowly he took out his grappling hook tool and aimed straight to the top of the wall. 'Well Mr. Martin, you're about to have a surprised visitor.'

He let go of the trigger and jumped on the wall, and straight down to the front yard like an eagle going for his prey.

Hunk couldn't see lights were on in the house. For a moment he studied the layout of the house, and made his way to the front door. He bend down in front of the door and start tugging on the lock. It took him only few seconds and the door opened. 'Bingo.'

Quietly he made his way inside, the house seems large and well-cleaned like a manor. The stairs is right in front of him, in the left side he could see the kitchen overlooks the living room. Most of the living space has a view of the two-story wall of windows that looks out to a private garden. And there was a Scandinavian-designed fireplace.

He went through the stairs, walking as slow as possible to not make any sound. The hall upstairs was decorated with flowers in the middle. He saw an half opened door right in the end. 'Mister Martin must be waiting for me!' he thought as he came closer to the door.

He took his combat knife from chest pocket and pushed the door with his index finger.

The office inside was dim-lit; it had book shelves in both sides, and he could see a figure sitting on the desk...

Like always his knife shined in the light of candles as he came closer to the chair, before he could reach it. His eyes caught flies are gathering all around him.

Swiftly he turned the chair around and prepared his knife, but what he saw made him freeze for a moment-speechless. The man was dead and his face looked squashed to the inside.

Feeling anger boil within him he kicked the chair, creating a loud noise. A sound of familiar moan followed.

Hunk brought his wrest close to his mouth and pressed the button. "What the hell is going here? Answer me!?" His voice cold and dangerous.

The answer came after few seconds. "Yeah, something vicious is spreading around here Mister Death, you better deal with it."

"What!? This is not part of the deal." Hunk said with venom laced in his voice.

"You have no choice."

Hunk heaved a long angry sigh and answered. "You better hope we don't see each other, when this is over." he said coldly. "Or else I'll show you what Thanatos can do."

Loud laughter was all the answer Hunk got from him. Though he was out of time. The zombies were right outside the door of the office.

From his rear pocket Hunk drew his pistol. "Get out of my way." he stated to the monsters.

 **Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this.**

 **Special thanks to The95will**


	3. Note

Note...

It's been awhile I'll be back soon.


	4. Chapter 3 The nightmare

**Hello :) I know it's been a long time, but I'm back and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **Chapter 3."The nightmare."**

A blood chilling scream disturbed the whole neighborhood. Nothing like that has ever happened before in the area. She didn't like it but Claire chose to go to her neighbor's house and make sure everything is okay. It would be better if she checked and nothing was wrong rather than not checking when someone was in need of help.

Once she was in the front yard, she could see a broken window to the main living room, the silence was too thick for her liking. All Claire could hear was her footsteps and thumping of her heart. A feeling she learned from Rockfort Island.

The front door was half opened. The blackness behind it unsettled her. "Mrs. Evans." She called, her voice shaking.

Claire went inside as carefully observing her surroundings. The walls were spotless as well as the furniture she walked past. "Mrs. Evans," she called again. Another loud sound appeared, it was shattered glass. It made Claire jump with fright.

Claire shook her head to reaffirm her confidence. With every footstep, her heart would beat faster. Then she heard something, a man by the sound of it. Just some groans but flashes of Claire's past invaded her thoughts. He wasn't talking though it was more like mumbling, moaning.

Claire felt a burst of fear and sadness mixed together. She could tell this was the song of the dead.

Once she reached the room, she saw a large amount of blood coming from under the door. Her breath hitched in her throat as she slowly pushed the door open.

She couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips at the sight before her. Mrs. Evans laid near the bed in the floor, her abdomen torn open as her inners looked as if it spilled out. Intestines were spread all over the room. The rib cage was ripped apart. The heart and one of the lungs were missing. Crimson decorated the floor and near the body was what caused all of this.

Her husband, his eyes are unfocused, his mouth is twitching and drooling as if he is craving for more to consume, and the smell of his rotting face, mixed with the woman's corpse churned an indescribable feeling inside Claire.

"N-o." She stammered.

Claire closed the door and fled the house, and thought no longer about anything at all. She needed to contact Chris or even Leon and ask for help to be sent right away. Her mind flooded with ever more scary thoughts.

She sprinted past the fence of her house, forgetting to be careful and check if the street is safe, all she knew was that she had to go home and make sure her friend is okay, find her weapon and go out to help until reinforcement arrive.

The very moment she went inside her house, she felt Annie jump in her arms crying. "OH Claire what's going on?" Immediately she dragged Claire toward the window. "Look at the street!"

In the distance she could see figures hidden in the shadows of the night, but they were in a menacing dance of hunger as their cries can be heard clearly now. Some walked normally while others shambled.

Claire took a moment and closed her eyes, breathing in and out. "Annie honey, you need to remain calm okay, these things are attracted by sound." Claire checked outside the window again. None of the undead noticed them. "If we went in the shadows as quiet as possible, we can escape and possibly warn other people." Claire walked away from the window. "Just remain calm."

Annie held unto her shoulders, terrified. "How can I remain calm, when there are WALKING Corpses in the street and..." Claire interrupted by putting her hand over Annie's mouth.

"My brother is in the BSAA, I'll make some phone calls okay, trust me I've been through this before and I know this is scary but we need to keep our heads." Annie nodded, Claire carefully moved her hand away and Annie walked off into a corner to process the situation. Claire sighed. "I cannot believe it, this poor town."

Annie nodded, confused and scared was her glance. She closed the curtains and turned off the dim light.

Claire stood in her office, staring at her gun locked safely in a box. She felt really uncertain for what to do next, there is still questions need to be answered; what's the cause of this? Has the infection spread through the whole town, or this is just the beginning?

First thing to do is to find survivors, help them gather in a shelter or something, then investigate and search for the reason. Wait for evacuation.

She took a seat in front of her PC, she knew exactly the official website to contact the BSAA, but the loading screen seems to be taking forever for some reason.

'Come on, this is not the time.'

After a few seconds, the large bold text appeared. "No internet connection."

Claire frowned, and punched the arm of her chair. "You gotta be kidding me." In a hurry she searched for her cellphone, in her purse. Some of the junk just got in the way. She kept telling herself that she needed to clean it out in the past.

Immediately she turned it on, though the screen showed zero signal. "What!?"

Claire took her gun from the box, and gathered all the bullets she have, she took a belt holder and put it on, for her weapon.

It was a simple firearm… A gift from Chris in case for this kind of emergency. A Springfield Armory XD pistol also called the 'Blacktail.' A handgun Claire took to a firing range on dozens of occasions and was more than familiar with. In a cabinet close by, Claire opened it to reveal two red ammo boxes for her sidearm. Along with that was a belt and holster for her right leg. Claire strapped it on and nodded to herself. The belt had three pouches with several pistol magazines at the ready.

'I'm sure I could find a signal somewhere outside.' she thought to her as she glanced back at the screen of her cellphone.

Annie was waiting for her near the stairs, her face red and puffy like she has been crying for hours. "What are we going to do?"

Claire held into her hand and squeezed. "Relax, we can do this, I hope it isn't bad as we think."

Claire made it very clear that the both of them carry a small amount of belongings. She took a white jacket and zipped it up then mentally prepared herself for what could lie ahead. Annie got herself cleaned up and did the same. Together, they walked out of the house. There was a weird sound in the wind, like there was a large number of whistling beetles crawling around. Annie stood right behind Claire as they walked.

Once they were in the middle of the street, Annie's grip tightened on her arm. "Mark!?"

Claire followed her eyes and saw three figures, the one in the middle was the familiar face of a costumer Annie liked. The other two were his companions.

She hid her face behind Claire. "Please."

Claire aimed her gun, her eyes filled of pity. There wasn't any way around them. "I'm sorry." The gun flashed, a bullet went straight into his forehead. The force made him stagger and fall backwards then started to bleed. It moaned at them as the left out reached out. Claire knew that even though these corpses are slow and stupid their grips could spell the end for anyone.

She discharged the gun several more times but the corpses dropped down. Claire told Annie to be weary of them. Some of them like to play dead then snap like a bear trap.

Claire backed up a step, darting her gaze left and right to make sure there is no more corpses around.

Swiftly she aimed at the other two, and immediately fell into pools of blood. Nothing was to their immediate right side and she didn't want to miss this chance to move freely.

"Go Annie, run to that house see if there is someone in there." Claire ordered as she kept her handgun steady as she watched their surroundings.

Annie, terrified she nodded and ran to the house in the right side of the road. Claire took out her cellphone and checked for signal.

The screen showed 2 bars. "Great."

In a hurry she pressed call at the very first number appeared to her. "Come on, please answer."

...

A man rested in his couch, his living room was dimly lit, and his suitcase and weapons are on the coffee table. It's been only few months since that ugly mission he went through, still he couldn't take a proper vacation. On the coffee table as well were some empty cans of soda as well as beer. Along with two empty packs of gum.

He was about to fall asleep when his phone disturbed the silence. Leon pulled himself up then slouched over his couch. The phone was vibrated on the table before him, Claire's name was in the screen, a name he hadn't heard from in a long time. Brushing an empty can aside, he picked up his phone.

"Hello?"

There was too much static in the other line, "Claire?"

"Leon can you..."

"Hello? I can't hear you, can you speak up?" Leon rubbed the bridge of his nose. He thought he might need a new cell phone provider if this was going to be a thing.

"… can … me!? There's… -thing going on. I … … …"

Leon came to his senses. He stood on his feet, expression changed into worry. "Claire, what's going on?"

"Report...here...monst..." these were the last words he heard, a sound of gunshot followed and the connection was cut off.

'Damn it, not good.' He searched through the list of names, until he found the number.

.

.

.

"Hello this is the BSAA HQ how can I help you?" A woman answered.

"Yes, this is Kennedy speaking, I need to talk with Agent Redfield, right away."

"Alright, hold on. Could you please repeat who you are again?"

(...)

Claire found herself thrown back by a force, stumbling at the fence of the house behind her, and almost falling backwards over it. With a loud thud, Claire groaned as she rolled to her left side before she got back on her feet. Her grip with the Blacktail didn't waver at all. Claire looked but up and shot a zombie that was at arms-length away from her in the head. It stumbled and collapsed to the ground.

Immediately afterward Annie's voice screamed for mercy. "No, let me go!"

Claire regained her balance and saw what was going on before her. A creature with a hunched back. The skin looked rough, scaly, and tough. On the center of the body, were exposed fangs that had several strings of saliva connected to the upper and lower jaws. The eyes glowed orange then it hissed at Annie. Along the left and right side, were two arms with claws shining in the light. It looked like some human sized reptile. It lower its head to Annie, she was on the ground paralyzed with fear.

Claire panicked and she fired at the strange creature. For something like that, Claire would rather expend extra bullets than learn what kind of killing potential that thing has. It flinched several times as some of the bullets were wedged in its hide. Annie shook her head then crawled backwards as Claire kept the pressure on the creature.

The creature staggered a little, but it stood tall again. It turned to Claire, once it set its eyes on her, the Blacktail _clicked_ empty. Her eyes widened as she shamed herself for being so careless. She reached for her lower back then slid a new clip into the gun. Claire aimed again, though she a felt a strong slap, the force of it had thrown her far to the middle of the street.

Her mind barely registered what happened. That thing just lunged itself at her then shoved her out to the street. The damn thing didn't even use its claws on her.

She could feel the flaming wounds in her cheek and her shoulder. "Claire!" Annie screamed as she ran to the other side then hid behind a trashcan.

Claire looked for her gun, that attack had made her drop the gun somewhere. Lucky for her, the gun did sound too far off when it shoved her.

The creature charged toward her again, carefully she watched it and waited for the perfect moment. A loud screech can be heard from it then made a high jump. The entire body leaned downward with the left claw ready to impale Claire's body.

She rolled to her right then immediately stood up again. The creature just observed Claire as she walked slowly backwards the level her gun and didn't even blink at the thing.

In the briefest of moments, Claire could have sworn that she saw the reflection of light come off the claw as it came at her. Not the way she expected to go out but at least it beats being eaten…

"Annie!" Claire called out. "Stay close." She was hoping beyond hope that Annie could hear her.

At the corner of her eyes, she saw the gun, another screech echoed in the street and Claire knew she had to make a jump for it. On the ground, there was a darkened object on the asphalt. This meant that object better be the gun or she's good as dead.

The creature spread its arms apart as the claws stretched out in size, this was her chance. Claire threw herself at the gun swiftly then landed on her side which shook her up but grabbed the gun. With the Blacktail in hand, Claire leaned up then clasped her hands together to secure it. It was the time for the creature to strike then she took the gun and spun around shooting it, three times in a row.

The hunter trembled one last time and it shrieked again then stumbled forward. It hissed once more then dropped to the ground… mere inches from Claire's feet.

Claire looked around searching for Annie, Suddenly people started running out of their houses near her, screaming.

"Run, there are more out here too!"

"Why is this happening!?"

"Wait, don't leave me here!" Most of them ran around like headless chickens, terrified for their lives.

"God help us!"

Claire shook her head sadly as she ran after them shouting. "People! Listen to me!"

But fear had spread too much to be controlled now, everyone was running their own way looking for an escape. Annie kept her head down behind the trash can as Claire shook her head again to regain her composure.

Claire walked up to Annie. "We have to move. We'll just attract more attention if we stay close to a crowd like this." Claire nearly stumbled forward but Annie caught her in time.

"I think you're right." Annie offered her shoulder to let Claire rest a bit before the next danger could come their way. The two walked into the shadows as more people were killed in the confusion…

(...)

A lone zombie groaned to itself. It stood in a wide room as it just finished feasting on the very person she dedicated her life to… The moaned again then the eyes reflected a shadowy image before it. A silver blade severed the head then with a punch, the head of the zombie snapped completely backward along with a rough stab through the chest. The soulless eyes shoved the body away then the blade flicked the blood away. Hunk stood in a moment at the front door, his ears tuned for any form of noise.

The sound of terrified people screaming and random gunfire echoed outside which prevented him from hearing anything in the immediate area. Hunk shook his head then sheathed his knife as he walked slowly across the room. His left hand reached for his pistol then he aimed it carefully.

He kicked the door open, he could see thick smoke in front of him, it seems the situation was went from bad to worse in mere seconds. 'You son of a bitch, I'll figure out what you're planning.' He thought to himself as he peaked into the alley. He slowly stepped in then froze… he heard an unmistakable sound. It was right next to him, and he knew what it was. He slowly turned his head to the right, there he saw two infected dogs watching him.

They snarled at him as both dogs revealed their fangs to him. Hunk hated dogs, then before he could even move, one dog growled as the other barked. Without warning, one charged at him with blood soaked teeth. Hunk stiffened his leg muscle and the first dog lunged at him. By reflex, he lifted his leg then decked it hard on the torso, sending it to the brick wall… snout first. The skull slammed in and by the time Hunk's leg came down, he took out his knife leaned his torso back as the second dog lunged at him as well. Without thinking, the knife went straight through the dog's eye and Hunk twisted the blade so it would suffer. Once it slowed in movement, Hunk took the blade out then stabbed it through the skull four more times to make sure it would stay dead.

The amount of force the first dog slammed into the wall. The fresh coat of blood and brains was enough for Hunk to know its dead.

He checked his pocket, for his ammo and everything he needed. Since he was never meant to be in the middle of an outbreak, he only had one clip for his pistol. His blade would be his primary tool to get him out of this mess and he will NOT be consumed by no damn zombie or any BOW for that matter.

Hunk took a moment to register what happened in the last two days...

 **"I need you Mister Death," a blonde man stated. "Will you take this job?"**

 **Hunk frowned and crossed his arms. "Why do you want to me to leave for that town in such a short notice?"**

 **The man sighed and laid back at his comfy chair. "I told you, I need you to retrieve the files from** **one named** **Henry Martin, you have my word I'll pay you twenty thousand dollars in cash." he sighed. "That man know** **s a little** **too much about us, and about Wolf Pack,** **many other ex-USS members and former scientists** **." A** **faint** **smile graced his lips. "** **I heard that many of them found new lives after Umbrella fell apart. I'm** **pretty sure you don't want such a thing to be reveled do you?"**

 **The two continued the conversation for a few minutes until the last of the details for the job were explained. In the time with clients, Hunk always thought carefully about the jobs he would take.**

" **If you can move in less than a day, I guarantee an added bonus of five thousand to the twenty I already promised."**

 **Hunk ponder on it for a moment.** **The very notion of former Umbrella members being hunted down didn't sit well in his thoughts. The money was an afterthought for this job anyway.** **"Alright, you have a deal,"**

 **"I knew I can count on you."**

The image of Henry's dead corpse was still fresh in his mind, and now he understood what happened, why he was sent to this place.

If he wasn't wearing a mask, the locals could have seen his face. It turned into that of an angry Lion. 'That dirty snake.' Hunk thought coldly, he should have seen it coming, all of this was an elimination plan, and still, he couldn't understand the reason behind the outbreak. He mentally cursed himself for being so damn gullible to take a job without thinking it entirely through.

His grip tightened at the trigger of his gun and he walked to the side, avoiding the crowd running in the street. It would seem that the alleyways would be his best bet to walk around undetected. Several flashes of light flickered out on the street followed by the sound of gunfire.

During his trek, a small park by the name of Sarah Peak Park was encased in darkness. The perfect place to lay low.

Instead of entering through the main entrance, Hunk jumped down from a wall on the east side. He went in the shadows of the trees, he waited for a moment, until the people vanished from his sight. Not that he didn't pay attention for any creatures either. He'd been through worse in the past.

(…)

"Claire. Where are we going?" Annie asked as she stood behind Claire.

"No idea. But we need to find someplace to be safe." Claire rubbed her forehead for a moment. The two walked across the street as there were car crash a dead person leaning out of over the dashboard. Small fires were was helped illuminate the streets.

Annie kept her eyes out for danger as well. Then Claire rubbed her back again and Annie noticed that it happened for the third time now.

"Are you okay?"

"Just a bruise. That thing back there, it nearly killed us." Claire stated and Annie knew she meant that reptile.

"Yeah. I think we need to stop somewhere to catch our breath. How does that sound?" Annie said on a whim.

Claire stopped and Annie bumped into her back. Taking a break during an outbreak could spell doom for some people. However, Claire has been through this before so she wouldn't make any mistakes that would get the both of them killed. So Annie's suggestion could help them formulate an ever better plan.

"Good idea." Claire looked around then noticed a small sign at the end of the street. Sarah Peak Park was would be on the next turn off. That's perfect, a place to hide and it's wide enough for Claire and Annie to run in any direction in case they needed to. Plus, needed to catch her breath. The two of them moved carefully as they entered from the south side.

Several zombies were easily avoided as the two walked past the iron gates. Annie and Claire both took a moment for themselves and eventually found a small picnic area they could use to hide in. Annie noticed there was a water fountain then went to get a drink. She did so in silence then noticed something peculiar in the distance…

(…)

It's been fourteen minutes since Hunk took cover in the park. The sound of the guns and people weren't as prevalent as before. So he dust his left leg off and placed his back to a tree.

He was about to move, when he heard a feminine voice. "Hey you!?" he spun around, knife at the ready, but all he saw was a young woman approach him with a gun at the ready. There was a strong look of disgust in her eyes.

"You're Mister Death. You did this, didn't you!?" she screamed.

Hunk heaved a long annoyed sigh. "I have no time for you." he lowered his gun and turned away from her.

"Hey! Stay were you are. I didn't-" Claire stated as she took step forward. Hunk snapped into action by taking a step forward then lowered his body so his right leg could sweep the grass and force Claire to avoid it then for her to take aim at him. It happened too late since Hunk brought Claire to ground then he tried to restrain her. For this young woman however, she wasn't helpless like she was before, so in reflex from practice, Claire clenched her left fist then brought it around to strike Hunk on the right temple which was protected by his gasmask.

"Argh!" He grunted then Claire shoved him off of her. She reached for her gun but Hunk swiped his arm so it rolled away on the grass.

Claire rolled back to her feet as she raised both of her arms into a boxer's stance. Hunk cocked his head as he was more than annoyed by this point. Even with the gun out of the way, Claire specifically told Annie to stay away from the fight since she knew all about Mister Death.

Hunk gently rubbed his temple. Claire took a step forward then before she could say anything, Hunk straightened his back then he lowered it and spread his arms apart. Claire didn't wait for him to do the first move as she dashed forward swiped her right arm around aimed for Hunk's temple again. He blocked it then her left arm jabbed him in the chest. Hunk reacted by leaning forward and making an 'X' formation with his arms then split it apart for her arms to knock them out of the way. He flicked his right leg then brought it up to strike Claire in her stomach.

"Bwah!" Claire uttered from the pain.

Claire had the wind knocked out of her as well as some spit. She recovered from it by spinning around for her left leg do a roundhouse kick. It caught Hunk on the left shoulder then Claire jumped up and brought her right leg then knocked Hunk back. He stumbled and she closed the distance by circling around him then jabbed at his left calf for him to drop to one knee. Once that happened, another roundhouse to the temple should knock him out for good. So she raised her leg again to do so.

Hunk leaned forward and the kick whiffed above him then he rolled to his back then trapped her free leg from his boot then tugged at it. Claire completely lost her balance as she was brought to the ground and Hunk leaned forward so he could pin her leg to the ground. He was in the position to possible break her leg… something like that could be a death sentence in an outbreak.

"That was cute." Hunk whispered. "Are you done?"

He let go of her leg and then he rolled to his left. Claire rolled to her right and the two stood at arms-length from each other. "Oh no," Claire snapped. "I won't let you out of my sight,"

Hunk grunted and spoke. "Did you know that you're irritating?" he asked.

"Oh sure, it's in my blood, I have to annoy people." she replied keeping up with his steps.

"You have bigger problems than worrying about me." Hunk kicked the Blacktail back to Claire. Annie revealed herself from the bushes to hide behind her. Claire didn't break her concentration until she heard the several moans in behind her.

Apparently they stayed too long in the park as a small crowd of zombies started to move toward them. There were about seven zombies and each of them showed their teeth in excitement. Hunk's red lenses reflected that as he pulled out his knife. He took a battle stance.

She frowned at his direction. "You'll pay for this."

"Stay out of my way, little girl." he sneered.

Without hesitation he sprinted forward to attack the first zombie before the others closed in.

Claire gritted her teeth in fury. "What did you just call me!?"

Annie held her arm, stopping her before she tries to attack again."Claire please." she whispered.

 **Thank you for reading, more to come, I'll update as soon as I can.**

 **A big thank you to The95Will my beta reader for his great help.**


	5. Chapter 4 The nightmare part 2

**Here is another chapter this week.**

 **Chapter 4. "The Nightmare Part 2."**

 _Clap clap_ , a sound came from a pair of boots as they came in contact with a wooden floor.

The figure walked back up to the room in the hotel. There was a gentle breeze of wind from an open window and it entered a room and the first thing to notice is the head lowered itself then looked up. With a black hood lowered itself over the face as he kept his head low. This hooded figure glanced around the room where he was told to meet someone else. It was glad that the other person agreed to cooperate. Outside of the hotel, whatever happened, was definitely bad news and they needed to make a move now before something possibly worse could show up.

The hooded figure turned right to see a woman with platinum blonde tied back blonde hair tilt her head at him. She was in her early thirties and didn't wear any makeup at all. Her ice blue eyes were unflinching as nodded to the hooded person. He knew that she was reckless, but at least she wasn't nuts.

"We should split up," The woman said as she gently rubbed her finger alongside the bladed end of a machete. "When we're there, you need get rid of whatever comes at us."

The hooded figure barked a laugh, one completely empty of humor and more of teasing. "Keep telling yourself about me having a death wish. Besides, we know something is definitely going on here." The hooded figure walked passed the woman then glanced out the window. "This fire already set this town on a path of ashes. We have about three hours before the military quarantines it then sends the BSAA on cleanup." The hooded figure looked back her. "Hunk doesn't have much time."

The woman pursed her lips, ignoring his attitude. "I already found the city's location and the key to that large briefcase he left behind. If I remember correctly, what we need now is a ride the town." She stood up then placed the machete in its sheath on her lower back.

"Understood." The hooded figure responded. "The place has hunters' territory written all over it, according to what I heard. Our informant said the police scanners couldn't shut up about them. Did you bring a sniper rifle?"

"Already ahead of you," she smiled as she revealed a briefcase and took out a semi auto sniper rifle she called the 'Arbiter.' "She's all prettied up and ready for a night around the town."

The hood sighed "Just stop talking, let's go, no more miss chatter box Bertha."

The softness in her face changed into cold expressionless, though it's been a long time, still she was ready to work again with her former partners. "We make our move and don't think you're off the hook on refusing Arbiter's existence." Bertha stood up then opened revealed the last of their gear as the hood picked up his share.

"The raid will start in five minutes." The hood stated.

He went through his bag to make sure his uniform is still there, the gasmask and hexagon hooded jacket. "How long has it been?" he asked. "Five years right?"

"That's right. It feels good doesn't it?"

The hood smiled as he brushed the hood back then took out a gasmask.

Bertha took hold her weapons. "Right, Vector?"

The gasmask sealed then the blue lenses reflected the dim light then turned to Bertha.

"It's good to be back, I'm not denying it." Vector smiled underneath his gasmask.

...

 **Rockfort Island. December, 1998.**

 **Claire walked along the left side of a hallway and being mindful of the walking corpses the plagued the island. All she had was a pistol and key card to help her traverse the silent halls. It was unnerving and she felt that she needed a moment to herself. Eventually, she came across a room that appeared to have been an old document storage room. She entered it with utmost caution.**

 **Claire didn't want to touch anything in that messy room, though she needed to look around there that could help her.** **Along the main wall it was a bloody mess. The outline of a body was apparent but no corpse was there either. Claire didn't like it so she needed to be on her toes. As she walked in, Claire noticed a series of opened** **files under the desk and she started to rummage through them.**

 **Some works that were done in Raccoon City, old orders from Oswell E. Spencer, as well as a memo of an upcoming event called 'Taco Tuesdays.' Claire guessed that some employee wanted to make this place seem homey.**

 **Twenty minutes passed until** **Claire found something in one of the files that got her interest, it was like a long journal where the name 'HUNK' appeared three times.**

 **It stuck out to her. Umbrella didn't seem like the company that would worry much about the appearance of their employees. Could it be a typo?**

 **She flipped through a few pages, saw that nothing was old and dated it was like everything is written recently.**

 **She took a deep breath and started at the top.**

 **Today the deal is sealed, HUNK had finished the mission successfully, and the samples have been delivered to Mr. Ashford without delay.**

 **He was informed at the beginning that of Alexia and her condition, he needs to find him immediately, though I think Mr. Ashford is afraid of him for some reason. I was uncomfortable at first, but Alfred, he insists to hire the man in the gas-mask to deliver the last touches for her T-Veronica creation.**

 **Claire looked at the doorway then decided to barricade herself and sort out several of the documents she found in case rescue ever came her way…**

(...)

'Funny, how his name appear everywhere around outbreaks.' Claire thought as she watched him closely slaughtering the zombies so coldly like he doesn't care they were people before. It almost made her think he is just an emotionless bastard. Just before Hunk sprinted in then immediately stab a zombie under the jaw then kick it away and moved to his next target.

She was about to take Annie and shoot their way out to keep up with him. It was a decent half-baked plan since there wasn't time to formulate anything specific. Claire raised her gun and fired into a zombie's eye as it toppled over and Hunk jumped over it to stab another zombie. Suddenly they heard a hissing sound, and multiple movements followed. It was as if there was some scraping sounds along the concrete and asphalt.

"Oh no, more reptiles." Claire said with a bated breath. She held Annie's hand and dragged her away. "Come on we have to go, I don't deal have enough to deal with them."

Back near the pond, Claire was about to tell Annie to hang back and hide, the hiss and shrieking sounds were much clearer now. In a several seconds, Claire had Annie take hold of her shoulder and the Claire used her gun sparingly to carve a path through the zombies. In spite of everything she did feel bad walking away and leaving him alone to deal with god knows how many.

Hunk did a right haymaker for a zombie to stagger then for his other hand to come in with the knife. The throat was cut out and he took hold of the left arm and crouched so he could toss the body over his shoulder. Once it landed on its back, Hunk raised his left boot then stomped its face in. The blood dripped off of it as Hunk did a roundhouse kick and noticed the young women running away. 'So much for me never leaving your sight.' Hunk chuckled to himself as the number of the zombies dwindled.

"What is it Claire?" Annie asked. Claire rotated her head to look at the dark, she could see gun flashes and figures jump around.

Another sounds appeared all around them, this time there were more snarls thank shrieks…

"We need to move."

Carefully Claire aimed and observed the area, her gaze at full alert, she knew staying around trees is dangerous, because of what could be lurking around. There was an open clearing and no lamp posts to let them know what could be in the darkness.

"Alright, you just follow me as quiet as possible and when I say ran you just do it okay?" Claire murmured.

"Got it." Annie kept her hand at Claire's shoulder as the two moved on.

The two women walked in the side, Annie could figures in the shadows not too far from them and she did bit her lip to keep herself quiet.

Claire could see the gate is close, it was the time to run for it. "Now!" she whispered. Immediately she sprinted toward the gate. Claire moved out and decided to use an entire magazine to make sure no zombie could get close to Annie. Once Annie made it across, Claire sprinted over as well.

Once silence welcomed them again, they stood for a moment to catch their breath, "This is not good," Annie whispered. "I'm being a burden."

Claire shook her head. "Now you're annoying me." Claire ejected the empty magazine. "Why're you talking like this now? We've been friends for how long?"

Annie's lips almost formed a smile, remembering the first day the two of them met at the collage gate. One was lost and other was just as much so.

"Four years."

Claire lightly punched her shoulder, "You can be a real bitch, but I still love you." The Blacktail's barrel clicked into place and the gun was ready for use again. "Come on."

Annie followed behind smiling, "And you're a smart ass, I wish to punch you sometimes."

Claire knew the two of them need to find another place to hide, Claire thought about that possibly not the whole town is turned into hell and the only way to find out what's going on, she needs to go to the mayor. Not many places could be considered a 'safe' haven.

Then maybe see if the police have a plan to contain this outbreak in a certain area. 'I cannot believe I'm in the middle of this again.'

Still how these hunter like things be all over the place, and the zombies?

The two of them made it at a four way intersection and Claire noticed the street signs. Diamond road and Smith Street. Claire remembered that a friend by the name of Martin Kruger who lives around here. Could he be holed up and offer sanctuary?

They went over Martin Kruger's house, they could see houses nearby with their lights turned on, shadows of the people move all over the place. As well as makeshift barricades at the gates.

"Maybe we should warn them, they could leave and hide somewhere." Annie suggested.

"Good idea." Claire tabbed her shoulder.

Annie nodded and ran without looking back. Claire checked her cellphone again for signal, to her surprise there was five missed calls from Leon and one message from Chris. She wanted to take it out but there-

 _BANG BANG!_ … Loud gunshots through the streets.

The both of them were seen by the people and some even started to make an opening for them. Claire and Annie were called out by the survivors and there didn't many of them were happy to see them. A woman ordered her friends to get the makeshift barricade open. Martin looked out and recognized them and waved.

Claire and Annie walked few step but Claire halted. Annie turned around the moment Claire stopped.

"What is it?" Annie asked.

"There is just something I need to do." Claire tightened her grip on her pistol." I have to..."

Annie understood what Claire meant.

"Go back if you want to." Annie said to Claire's surprise, she didn't even realize she has returned.

"What?"

Gentleness in Annie's eyes. "I'll stay with the people here, until your brother can save us." Annie said and pointed toward the people at the door of their houses, few of them were armed. "Don't forget about me." Annie joked."Okay?"

"Be careful." Claire said as she turned around. She sprinted alone in the middle of the street, obvious scowl in her face mumbling to herself. "Can anyone tell me what the hell am I doing? Perhaps I'm crazy." When it came to potential dangerous turns, Claire would make sure to slow down then speed up again when she was in the clear.

The gates of the park came into view and she knew her pistol wouldn't cut it. There were several bodies at the street corner and one of them had a blunt object in her arms. Claire found a fire extinguisher. "Alright." In a hurry she took it and went for the gate, she kicked it open and sprinted inside.

(...)

Hunk hissed in frustration—at the number of hunters seemed to be increasing in the park, he knew he should have left when he had the chance several minutes earlier and it just kept getting worse.

Two of the hunters were ready to charge at him, Hunk threw himself forward, dodging the first one's claws. Once Hunk landed on his back, he dug through his belt and draw his weapon, he rolled to the left and fired at the two of them. Blood squirted out of the chest area then died and the other had a bullet enter through the mouth and it kept spitting blood as it charged at him. It shrieked again then Hunk gave it a bullet to the forehead for good measure.

He pulled himself up and was ready to flee the place, when he heard the sound of dogs again, this time it's mixed with the hunters hissing sounds, coming closer. He holstered his gun and prepared his blade for another fight. There were 5 bullet left in the gun along with his single magazine he brought.

He braced himself then flicked the blood away from his knife then waited for the next wave to make a move.

Though out of nowhere he heard the sound of a fire extinguisher, blinding the creatures for a seconds. To his surprise it was the girl from earlier. She let go of the device and start shooting the creatures none stop, getting their attention. It didn't stop a creature on attacking him however.

A dog charged toward him, Hunk gave it a kick, and it was thrown away a little far from him, his blade ready, he stabbed the other dog and gave a solid kick and it crushed on a tree, at the same time he saw the two hunters fall down with bloodied faces.

He didn't know if the creatures are gone, and he wasn't going to wait and see. He took a deep breath and ignored the aches in his body, from the many hits he took from these creatures. Hunk's left arm felt tingled for several seconds then a slow and bitter burning sensation wash over it. His back had pinches of pain as he rolled his shoulders to get his muscles relaxed to ease the tension.

"You so owe me one." Claire tilted her head and smiled, waving her index finger in front of him.

"Shut up, I never asked for your help." he argued. He shrugged her off then started to run toward the way out of the park. It was his plan to leave for the coast and use on of the boats to flee the town, this whole thing took too much of his time and he didn't like that.

"Oh no you're not going anywhere without me, you bastard." Claire shouted behind him and kept in pace.

'I knew it, I should have left him to die.' She thought, following his steps toward the gate, where he could see zombies dancing in front of the steel. Hunk slowed down slightly then Claire stopped behind him as he looked over his shoulder.

"Stop following me." Hunk shook his head at her.

"No way." Claire frowned."You're coming in with me."

"That's cute." Hunk chuckled at her as he moved his gasmask away from her view.

Claire checked the path behind them, something in the distance caught her attention. "Oh uh." was the only thing escaped her lips.

Hunk sighed, without looking back it her, he knew this means more creatures are coming through the park, to their luck, it's like the two of them were on their nesting ground.

"This is not good." She rolled her eyes and prepared to fight.

Hunk jumped and dodged around the Hunter coming his way, but the zombies has come to close to his liking, he held his leg and throw it on the ground, his blade went straight to his forehead burying it deep inside. As soon as the zombie stopped moving, he turned his attention to the other zombies, without realizing a hunter charged toward him, a reckless moment had caused him to be shoved to the far side where he hit a tree. "Argh." he sighed in pain.

"Alright, I'm sick of this." he whispered coldly as he pulled himself up on his feet.

He stood up then separated his arms as Claire raised an eyebrow at him. A small crowd of zombies were making their way to them as several hunters shrieked at them from above. at the rooftop, they observed Claire and Hunk. Hunk noticed that one of the zombies had an object in its hand as it shambled toward them. He capitalized on that moment then dashed for the crowd. The zombie he wanted to go for was in the front of the crowd.

Claire had no idea what he was doing but planned accordingly then aimed her Blacktail at some zombie stragglers.

Hunk took out his pistol then fired at the zombie with the object so by the time it died again, Hunk took hold of its object and swiped it at another zombie's skull. It was a dark blue crowbar and it had its fair share of blood on it.

There was only so much the knife could do and he took hold it then smacked a zombie across the jaw. It broke off and it wiggled its tongue at Hunk before he sliced the neck again then used the crowbar to snap the head backward. He turned to his left as a zombie swung its arms at him but he had the crowbar pierce right through the stomach then he twisted the crowbar the pulled it to the right and the inners of the zombie spilled out. The intestines, liver, lungs and blood… a lot of blood. He reversed kicked it in the head so it would face plant into the ground.

Claire kept her aim leveled as she noticed one zombie and many others get torn apart by that crowbar. He just kept going at it and Claire knew she didn't want to stop him.

Eventually a zombie got a lucky hit on Hunk as he turned around for it grapple him then get taken to the ground. Claire noticed it right away and moved in to help him. Once she did that, the hunters from the rooftops jumped down and wanted to finish them off.

Hunk shook his shoulders as the saliva of the zombie dripped down to his lenses and tried to bite him. Instead Hunk used his helmet and forced his head upward to hit the teeth. Several of them rolled down Hunk's gasmask before the temple had a hole burst out of it. Hunk looked to his right to see that Claire made the shot then refocused her attention to the Hunters. Hunk shoved the body off then pulled out his gun to do the same.

The hunters were killed before they could get close enough to attack. Several of them broke off from the pack and ran away. Hunk knew what that meant, the hunters want to rally themselves for a counter attack. And this is the time to get out of that damn park.

A zombie approached Claire was about to kill it with a headshot, Hunk sprinted in with his crowbar and pinned the zombie into a tree. He sighed to himself then gathered his breath and looked back toward Claire.

"Ah, you're seriously a..." Claire said shaking her head. "how could you slaughter them like this, so easily?"

The zombie twitched and groaned at them as Claire stared at Hunk.

Swiftly she took her gun and aimed at him. "The world will be free from one of the well known umbrella mercenaries "

"For the love of god shut up." Hunk snapped as he drew his gun on her the moment she did to him. "I swear I'll kill you, if you even dare to challenge me."

Claire raised an eyebrow, surprised, the words failed her. "Why am I not surprised, someone like you will say such words." Was the only thing she could speak.

Hunk tilted his head then said to Claire. "Move your head."

Claire's body reacted before she even knew it could be a trick. Once she did so, Hunk fired his gun and a head of zombie snapped back then died. Claire looked back at Hunk somewhat annoyed.

"Now we're even, now, stay out of my way." Hunk roughly pushed her to the side and walked passed her, he stood at the gate and turned to look at her one last time. "If you come across something you can't see through the end... then don't get involved. I get my jobs done, vendettas or otherwise."

Claire was stunned for what it seems like forever, her anger was mixed with confusion. She stood in her feet and cleaned herself and pushed the thoughts away, she still had this issue to worry about now. She checked her cellphone as Hunk walked away from her but she walked behind him as he grumbled at her. "Those words he said, what did he mean? what is he exactly!?"

Her cellphone started to ring, half surprised she took out and answered. "Hello?"

"Claire!? Thank god you're alright."

A bright smile graced her tired face. "Oh Chris,"

"Hey Claire bear, we'll be there as soon as possible I promise."

She took a deep breath and kept her eyes up, looking around for any danger. "It's like the whole place is infested with some kind of a large lizards that have huge claws and zombies are here too. They're everywhere, please hurry Chris."

"Take care of yourself, we'll be there soon." Chris said. "Don't you dare die on me."

A soft chuckle escaped her lips, it was more of sadness then humor. "Count on it." Claire smiled. once she searched for Hunk, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Damn it." she ran around looking over the ally."You won't escape that easy." mentally cursed herself for giving him the chance to slip away.

She could see zombies crawling out of a window near her,"Poor people." she whispered, immediately she ran, she didn't desire to stick around much and wait for them to corner her.

Claire knew she had to save her ammo.

 **Thank you for reading, so I hope it's good so far, I'll stop here for awhile. :)**

 **Thank you reaperfan, that was a heart warming review I appreciated it truly from the bottom of my heart.**

 **Special thanks to The95will, for his great help.**


	6. Chapter 5 Unlikely

**Chapter 5."Unlikely."**

 **Earlier that Evening…**

Hunk rummaged through the unnamed files at Henry's house. Just in the back room was a cluttered room with the belongings of the homeowner and it annoyed the hell out of Hunk. A simple job and now an Outbreak? Hunk frowned behind his gasmask as he brushed some trash aside. He knew that there was very little time left to bug out, but he needed to look through here and figure what kind of information does this dead man could have.

The briefcase from earlier was completely empty. Hunk even used his knife to cut out all the padding to see if anything could be hidden inside. Nothing else he did with it didn't reveal a secret compartment either. He tossed it lightly out in the hall during the search.

Eventually he moved a coat away from an isolated chair and voilà! There was a yellow file with a red outline at the edges and Hunk threw the jacket across the room which landed at the feet of the dead man. Surprisingly there was another file underneath the first one with a blue outline.

Hunk looked through a page from the red tipped file which contained ten names. People he knew all too well in the past.

Hunk went through the blue tipped file, though the first four pages were blank. The fifth page had a map drawn with a pencil, and judging from the places, it is a drawing here in the town, he flipped into the next page and found nothing there. It was an elongated piece of paper that was meant to be folded out but since it was blank he prepared the paper for a clean tear.

The severed map flailed a bit before it was folded poorly then stuffed it in his pocket. He went through another file, it was in Henry's hand hiding with his jacket.

The content he found made his blood boil, too much information he was sure nobody would ever need to know. The recruitment process, missions, private lives, Raccoon city, of what happened to Alpha team, where is Wolf-Pack members currently live with their real names as well as photo IDs stapled on the top left corner.

Even Hunk's name was among them.

He was sure such information had been lost five years ago, somehow someone kept and updated a record of them. What troubled him even more is a red 'X' was over several names.

He moved his index finger over the marked names until he saw, Vector, Christina, Yamata, Hector.

'Someone wants to eliminate us all, why? If not what's the point exactly?' Hunk shook his head. 'This is why I have trust issues.' In the next page he found the answer to his confusion.

He took an empty file from a shelf then stuffed the Wolf Pack bio files in that one and he read the rest.

With an annoyed sighed, he returned his attention to the file, settling back into a seat. He'd already reviewed many names and materials a number of times, but he wanted to be on top of every detail. No sound could be heard in the immediate area and against his conscience, he didn't feel like there was a significant threat in the area.

This new file had old dates written all over it. '…1976, 1980, 1985...'

Name: Haley AKA Subject G-12.

Age: 10

The subject had been involved in the test, her IQ is high but it was to be expected like the others. Trials for her medication will start in the coming weeks. This is still behind the projected schedule plans but there is shown signs of promise and so the Board has approved of the project for six more months... Hunk read but from there, the document was covered in tattered blood so it was difficult to read in certain areas.

As it turned out, she passed every test exactly and that it was predicted to happen. They chose carefully—but it also caused her to experience severe levels of insomnia for a days, and just like Mark's case, she was not easy to control and still it is a traits like this what made them want to recruit these two kids. She'd survive, but she would likely spend the rest of her life on that island, unless she finally gives in and do her duties. This girl's case had to be settled quickly, her family kept quiet about what happened to her, and they were ordered to forget about her or else they'll be in trouble if they tried anything...

At the top of the last page written. 'The Children of Raccoon City.'

Hunk gathered all the files then stuffed in all in one file then used the empty one on the opposite side so the papers wouldn't seem as loose. He hated the thought of doing such a thing but it was all he could do at the moment. Once it was packed together, Hunk undid several straps to loosen his gear so he could open his uniform somewhat. When it was opened far enough, he placed the bag in a custom pocket for such a thing then closed his uniform. He tightened his uniform then prepared himself to go back outside. Hunk knew he have to look at these documents later and figure out the reason Henry was killed. It was planned for him to die all along, and this must be more than just experiments done in some child.

...

Claire carefully checked the magazine and chamber as she'd remember from the time she used it, she raised the muzzle to avoid inadvertently aiming at someone uninfected, in the middle of her walk a loud voice can be heard through speakers.

"People evacuate immediately, head south toward the main hall of the city. The police are forming a safe have. Again, please evacuate-"

Claire tuned the message out then turned her focus to the front. To her surprise and dismay, the bridge was down… as in a pile of rubble. She spent a moment to think about her options, if she'll take another path and search the area, or go to safety with the rest of the people.

'No, I can't let someone like a murderer roam free.' Claire frowned in determination then whispered. "I won't."

She took a deep breath and increased her pace as she walked through the ruined town. She avoided the trees and going through a wide open stone path in a public plaza. Half the public lights were not powered like they should which made dark spots that Claire circled around. In not wanting to make herself a prime target for potential crazies or the man she currently tracked, she only used her flashlight periodically, just a quick flash to see what was in front of her.

It seemed like her memories of Raccoon City kept her on the move, to bring him in for justice. At least one of them is going to pay for that horror, it did gave her a sense of comfort.

There are those that deserve to spend time for their crimes

 _Bbrrrrbbtthtth_ … Claire stopped in her tracks then aimed her weapon to her surroundings. Several of the street lamps flickered over to her right side and she knew something hid in the shadows.

It sounded like heavy claws grazed over the concrete as something approached her. Claire's eyes and allowed her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Every flicker or so, a shape of the hunched creature looked to have been getting closer and closer.

By now, Claire wished that she brought some kind of knife along… even a kitchen knife could do the trick.

It started as if she couldn't see it coming a huge figure came in front of her and shoved her in the side. She slammed against a nearby fence, a shout of pain escaped her lips, during the fall, her elbow struck the floor first then by reaction she pulled the trigger and the bullet wedged itself into a brick wall. She shook her head as the shell casing rolled toward her attacker… Claire told herself to focus. The young woman looked up, 'Come on.'

Right in front of her was another lizard… but this one was different. Claire blinked her eyes to check if she saw this thing correctly. A foot with talon sized claws stepped into here view as the lights flickered. It was strange, did she hit her head hit harder than she thought or were the talons of a blood red color to them? It must be the lighting, but Claire didn't waste any time as she rolled over to her back then took the view of the creature. This lizard thing looked very different from the others. The shoulders and arms were encased with looked to be hardened scales that were almost pitch black. The claws on the arms were completely blood read as well as the underbelly. The eyes blinked before it ran its tongue over the teeth.

"I hate you." She whispered and aimed at it.

One bullet went through the chest which made the creature jump around then hiss at her. The lights seemed to have returned to normal as the lizard sprinted in to close the distance again. Claire rolled over and tried to keep her aim focused, she fired again though it dodged it cleverly. Once she made it to her back again, the lizard caught its left arm at the ready then shot directly down and made a hole in the concrete. It was stuck for a moment as it tried to pull itself out. Claire took advantage of this to get back on her feet and run away then she turned around. The lizard yanked out its arm then shrieked during its charge.

Claire fired her gun as it approached...The first bullet missed completely. The second hit the right shoulder but didn't affect it that much.

The third bullet hit the right thigh and with a spark, the bullet just left a dent in the scales.

She knew that since it was right in front of her with its claws came down at her. Claire raised her left arm by reflex as her right unloaded the magazine completely. The claw came down but it didn't and it shrieked at her again.

Claire screamed, while trying to stay still and she was able to shot more than once it's like her pain is keeping her going until the thing is down. When it swiped at her, she was knocked down again.

Her body trembled, she held unto the fence and pushed herself up, and she looked back at her hand it was turned crimson. It jumped back as Claire leaned against a wall and the magazine ejected from the Blacktail. She slammed the new magazine in and flicked her left arm of the excess of blood. An open cut was from her palm of her left arm to the middle of her forearm. Claire walked backward as the it stared at her, its chest had three clear holes in it and it just observed her. She didn't understand why but she didn't waste the opportunity to get away. 'Maybe it doesn't understand that guns have a limit.'

Claire knew she had to find something to stop the bleeding. Also, her right left felt odd and when she would apply pressure on it, she groaned in pain. 'I probably sprained it.'

She continued her way with a limp, where she could easily be mistaken with a zombie. Claire tried to walk in the sides while praying within her heart no one is going to try and shoot her.

She looked back again for the tough lizard but it wasn't there anymore… Claire found that way more unsettling. 'I have no idea it's going to come back my way or not.'

It felt like that tough lizard would probably stalk her.

Claire walked in the alleys for about ten minutes. Nothing but roaming rats and dead piles of flesh.

Once again the street was too silent, where she almost swore her breathing echo through the empty place. "I hope nobody stayed behind," she said as her eyes observed the houses. It looked at several of the windows were cracked and on the left side, it was strange… Claire saw what looked to have been an owl looking over the street. It had darkened feathers but she could clearly tell it was an owl.

Claire took a moment to lean her back against a wall. Then looked at her arm to access the damage. Nothing serious but the blood loss is still blood loss. She needed to find a place to apply first aid. Once she chose to do that, she looked back to the building. The owl was gone…

A soft gasp escaped her lips, as she could see a black figure jump down from a rich man's house.

Claire focused on the figure then noticed the red visors that appeared for a moment and was only a few meters away, moving parallel to her position. Claire didn't make a sound as she walked forward then placed her back against a wall. She peeked out to see Hunk use a balcony to jump down to street level. A small fire was nearby and she could clearly see his outline. Claire's thumb nudged the safety off and moved her left arm back and right shoulder forward. So didn't want her blood to be a distraction if this would get violent. Quietly she moved behind him, her footsteps are light barely audible. He stopped for a moment as he checked several bodies that were huddled together. 'Got you.' she thought.

One more step she'll be able to hold her gun on the back of his head. Though once again she was reckless. The shadow of hers gave away her position and Hunk used his elbow to knock her aim off course then he front kicked Claire's stomach, as she caught her breath, his blade was right on her throat and she was disarmed. When she was kicked, Claire reached forward and took hold of his chest get and he was pulled with her but he shoved her back. He tilted his head, "It looks like you have other things to worry about."

He turned away from her, something at the ground caught her attention.

A paper must have fallen from his person, she bend down and took it, carefully examining the drawing. 'What is this?'

A wide smile graced her pale face, 'I guess I need to play his game in order to catch him, and get the answers I need.'

Claire ran after him, calling. "Hey jerk, hold on." Hunk stopped in the middle of the dark ally of Henry's house without looking back, he waited for her to speak.

She stopped, her back then rested against the wall, biting her lip to avoid gasping for air. She felt really tired from all the stuff that's happened tonight. "I have something you want." she said in an obvious teasing tone.

"Excuse me?" Hunk's shoulders flinched in annoyance.

She chuckled a soft sound mixed with heavy breathing, she held the map and waved it in front of him. Claire was willing to pay money just to see his reaction under that mask. 'Ah too bad.' The blood of her arm could be used to ruin the paper and she'll gladly tear it apart afterwards.

Hunk stayed silent and crossed his arms. "Do you have a death wish?"

"I'm told that I'm a lot of things." Claire chuckled. She tightened her grip around the paper and noticed her Blacktail was too far out of reach before Hunk could kill her. So a silver tongue would work best for the moment.

"You obviously have no idea what you're doing." He uncrossed his arms. "Put that down or I will make this much worse."

"I figured as much coming from a sociopath." Claire carefully looked around. There was a wooden plank several feet away and she wanted to use it as a weapon that idea was beyond stupid.

Claire stood still waiting for him to answer, her eyes flickering with pride.

"Do you really think you can move with that wound?" He pointed with his index finger.

"That's none of your business." Claire frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"Selling cookies." Hunk replied in a deadpan tone.

"Yeah right, very funny."

"I know."

Claire just learned that Hunk can play the waiting game but he sooner or later he's going to lose his patience. Claire chose to mix up her approach.

"You're a mercenary right?"

"In simple terms yes." Hunk slightly cocked his helmet.

"You obviously are part of this somehow and you know that pistol you have right there is completely empty." Claire knew that all too well.

"That's a bold statement."

"Tell you what. I'll give this back if you're really here to be a bastard and cause panic, take that gun and end this. BUT, if I'm right, you'll have to listen to a deal I have to offer."

'She's definitely persistent.' Hunk thought.

"Putting your life into others will only get you killed." Hunk drew his pistol then aimed for her forehead. "Don't be clumsy."

The black abyss of the gun was the only thing Claire could focus on at that moment. Hunk straightened his arm and prepared his muscles to absorb the recoil.

Claire refused to even blink. Hunk pulled the trigger. _CLICK!_

The gun was empty and the chamber latched back and Hunk reset it.

"Not bad." Hunk crossed his arms again.

All the anxiety inside Claire completely washed away as she mentally pictured herself in a coffin with her brother heartbroken over her. She leaned back.

"Okay, you're here for something than other than killing infected. They're the same like in Raccoon City, but this is too perfect. You could have been killing dozens of people but you avoid contact. SO that leaves me to assume you're trapped here as well?"

Hunk remained silent.

"I'll take that as a yes. So what I propose is that we work together until we can get out of this city. Not with those lizard things running around."

Hunk's gasmask twitched. Claire noticed it and she connected the thought that he might know more about the lizards that she does.

"One of the black lizards got me and it's still running around the city." Claire continued her verbal power play. "I don't think we can do this by ourselves."

Hunk mentally cursed, he knew he'll regret this, though it is a fact he could never admit, he needs help in that place, he cannot do it alone, and he could use her good instead of irritating him with the idea of arrest. If Hunters are here in the city or 'lizards' as the woman likes to call them, then that means the one who started this is not wasting expenses. "Alright, you better keep up girl," he said as he cocked his head to the side for her to follow. "Don't expect me to wait for you if you act stupid."

Hunk turned around then he placed his gun in his holster. Claire sighed in relief then she passed the paper to Hunk. He did his little process to put the paper inside his uniform. It looked like one the folder was placed in good enough and that could be why one of the document fell out. Claire walked to the corner of the alley to pick up her gun. Hunk stared at her as she checked the magazine. The moment she would try something, he'll gladly end her, and she knew it.

He coughed, tasting blood in his mouth. Earlier when he left the park, he encountered more zombies and several hunters. He had no choice but to use the last of his ammo to kill some of the zombies. He thought he had several bullets left to for another extreme emergency… He didn't know if he had the spare bullet.

'I'm getting sloppy.' Hunk shamed himself.

He walked ahead of Claire as she watched the rooftops and Hunk made it his job to kill the lone zombies that got in the way of their path.

Wherever he was, he had to move and get back the map, see if this place had led to that secret one in the map. The streets only grew quieter and quieter. Hunk finished knifing a zombie in the eye and Claire got to see him kill them with such force, she felt somewhat justified on her assumptions about him.

During their walk, Claire ripped a section off her jacket to use as a temporary bandage as they were constantly on the move. As much as she wished to stop, there were times that he could leave her at any time.

He stood, cradling his right arm as he searched signs for the girl mentioned from the documents. It lead them on a pathway down the rocks in the side where he was, it looked like—a giant, hidden corridor, he had to jump.

'What a crazy way to hide.' He thought.'what is this all about?'

Though it wasn't very well lit, his gaze went back the broken rocks searching for a red hair. Carefully he moved around.

There were numerous piles of blasted pipes and puddles of burning gas around, it seems like one of these pipes are used for bus fill. The rocks were piled in positions will make it impossible to climb back up, it blocked the way to their luck, the two of them are trapped underground. 'That girl better not lose that map.'

'That jerk better not leave me behind.' Claire grimaced.

Hunk heard a gasp, "Uunh." A slumped shadow stirred near, it seems like she's buried.

"Hey!" He stumbled forward, hoping she was still human. She was face down, her jacket seems to be shredded.

"I'm alright." She whispered as she pushed herself up.

"Where is the map!?" He gritted his teeth.

It took Claire a moment, for panic to take over her, she searched through her pocket until her hand touched the paper, a sigh of relief followed.

"Here it is." she took out, nothing seems to be wrong with it other than be stained with sands.

Together they went down to the corridor, once their feet touched the ground, Hunk was in the front. She followed him as he walked carefully examining the area, not sure what to do, what to say. She seriously doubted that this is the perfect time to try and shot him, she needed answers first with his help, still she was ready to fight if he tried anything, Claire knew all too well to never trust someone like him.

"So what is this place?" She asked. "A secret lab or something?"

He pulled the door at the end of the corridor. Nothing, she could feel no air sweeping in, though there is no smoke and she was thankful for that. Still though, he didn't say much when they entered here.

Claire mentally fumed at the thought that the mercenary completely ignored her questions. She couldn't get any answer from him, anger was threatening to appear she closed her hand tightly, holding herself back.

"This is why I work alone." Hunk muttered, and rotated his head to look at her. "Stay silent, girl."

"Oh yeah, whether you like or not, we're trapped together in this." Claire fired back."deal with it."

He was about to say something, but stopped in the middle of the next corridor, then looked out at the place around the two of them. The slight reflection of his lenses, it scanned over the halls as the light were out and just the glint of it was enough for Claire to know he's there.

The place was huge, larger than a mine it seemed, like a giant work place underground. "Whoa." She whispered looking at the multiple doors, rusted hospital machines, moving beds and many more.

"You Umbrella types are always have toys for something terrible." Claire lightly chuckled.

"Why?" Claire moved her hands down as she looked around. "What..." She was interrupted with a hard slap in her face, where she almost felt her teeth were going to crack.

Shocked she stood in a moment holding her cheek. Immediately she took out her gun and aimed at him at the bridge of his nose. "So you want to finish that fight here, see who's going to live in the end?" She took a step back so he can't best her in hand to hand again.

The barrel of his gun directly at her forehead. "This one for being stuck with the likes of you." He said coldly, "You should know I have nothing to do but use you to my advantage, don't you dare ever think I listened to your threat."

"You're out of ammo." Claire smirked.

"I always keep one spare bullet on my person." Hunk replied then leaned his mask in. "Want to test your luck again?

Claire chuckled and lowered her gun. "Let's just say we're using each other in this, so we're finally have something to agree on." showing him a large smile, it was like a message to him. "You won't break me that easily."

Hunk at last lowered his gun and turned around. "Keep those words of yours in check girl."

"Assuming this place is some kind of a hospital right?" Claire assumed as Hunk walked passed her. She stepped back, looking at a half opened door, thinking if she should go and check, is it safe to make him vanish from her sight again?

Something on Hunk beeped suddenly, but it seems like he was able to speak privately and she couldn't hear who was talking to him.

'He can get a signal in this place?' Claire shook her head then took some time to investigate the room. Much of the place was covered in dust, as in years' worth.

"All of this is not like what I thought, there is working hands under the table, unknown motive."

After a long moment he let go of the phone-radio thing, the only thing to hear were their footsteps.

"What are you waiting for, do you need mommy's permission to move and search for something useful?" Hunk walked past Claire and bumped her at the shoulder.

'God, he is really irritating.' She turned away to look around the room some more, slightly amazed, as she opened the door. Part of her was on edge that she was brave enough to have her back to a person that worked for Umbrella. Still though, she was amazed that she could turn away without a knee-jerk reaction to fight him

The room she went through seems like a normal room where patient stay in it, there was also an opened rusted bathroom.

She shook her head in disgust and went toward the bed and the small table next to it.

"I wonder who was sitting here."

Meanwhile Hunk went through an office, he searched through the damaged papers, he knew there's should be an answer here somewhere or else that map won't be drawn for this place. He moved more trash out the way and flicked his gloves the dust as he started to look over the stuff. Just some random workplace belongings of the former employees. Some old faded photos that he couldn't see who the people were, not because he cared but faces could help with information. He flicked them in the air and Claire decided to check them out as well.

In the middle of the chaos he saw something, a small hat with faded green color.

It's like he could hear it in his mind, a sound of a child screaming. "No, where're you taken me? Let me go please." He shook his head and looked away.

Hunk doesn't need this, and he never well. His senses kicked, he can feel it something is coming, quietly. He prepared his knife and looked around the office. Claire noticed his subtle gesture from the lack of sound, then carefully prepped herself to draw her gun. Once she was mentally prepared, she nodded.

The faint sound slowly grow louder as something enraged from behind an office in front of him.

Claire and Hunk both turned around before the next footstep could be heard. Claire hesitated with gun and Hunk did the same with his blade.

"What the hell?" Was the only thought crossed his mind, facing that thing.

 **Thank you for reading, I hope you liked this. Special thanks to The95will my beta reader for his great help.**


	7. Chapter 6 The secrets part 1

**Chapter 6. "The Secrets Part 1."**

A lone man sat in his office, the room was dark except for the flicker from a bank of observation monitors, and ten of them all over the place where he could watch everyone, the radio man never stopped to talk about the outbreak where couldn't help the menacing smile on his face. "You're not responsible of this are you?" A cocky board voice echoed behind him. A chuckle escaped his lips and he didn't bother to look, he knew exactly who was it.

"Do you really think I'm that reckless? I know who is behind this and the consequences will bite him in the ass."

A woman entered the office and took a seat on the armrest next to him. "He never listens to me, I warned him: leave Hunk out of this. You don't want him as your enemy, _buutt_ he went through with the plan anyway." She gazed at the soundless black-and-white screens.

With all the funds they would earn, the woman pondered why they don't have more colored TVs. She knew it would be useless to bring it up anyways, she shrugged the thought off.

The collected man laid back on the chair, most of his attention was focused on a certain screen. Someone else walked in the room then paced back and forth like a troubled animal, "It's too late now to do anything, he's going to die." The man on the chair pointed at the screen with his index finger.

"Along with the one who paid him to go with the elimination plan, the past is coming back dear heart I _knew_ this will happen, that's why I never took any part of this." The man stopped for a moment and looked at her to emphasize his point.

The woman chuckled and crossed her arms, the whole situation amused her, though he had a point. Hidden secrets will begin to float, the spark was lit as the ensuing wild fire will spread… and the two of them have a front row seat. "Well, it's going to be really entertaining to watch this unfold, it's too bad I didn't bring a popcorn with me."

"The members of the Wolfpack has arrived five minutes ago, over." A radio buzzed, his voice crackling through the dimly lit room.

The collected man smiled at the woman and leaned in. "Copy that, I'm ready." Silence filled the dark room. There was no need to talk about what would happen when they entered the town. He was never been the type to talk more than it was necessary, anyway. He did press buttons on the computer in the side, and brought the mic closer.

'It's all coming down, I won't fail.' The collected man thought, watching the new screen.

"Hello Vector, Bertha." He could see them in a clear view from the sky.

The two members were silent and hesitated for a moment, "Chairman Wesker! What do you want?" Vector answered. "How did you…"

"Well I don't want to lose good mercenaries of the organization, what do you think?" He sneered back. "Listen to me I have information of Hunk's whereabouts and what's going on around."

"We're listening sir." Bertha replied.

(...)

A large bloated corpse emerged before them, spreading a white liquid all over the place it walked.

"What in the world is that?" Claire thought out loud. "Some kind of an animal?" she aimed at the thing and fired at the upper region of the torso, or what she could assume to be a torso. Once a bullet struck it, the glossy skin of it had a prolonged ripple throughout its body. Claire's skin crawled and her gun clicked on the fourth bullet. She kept calm then slowly walked backwards to have a chance to reload. Hunk came forward as he waited for the perfect moment to counter, the creature trembled and bend down charging toward him. Hunk frowned and bent down swiftly to dodge the thick arm and his knife went through its chest. The force of the blow forced the creature fall back to where it was. Claire's gun _clicked_ then lowered it and came closer as Hunk watched the creature. "Did we kill it?" Though Claire didn't get an answer from him once again. "Hello! Did..." She stopped talking after the creature made a sound again and trembled on its feet.

"I'm almost out of ammo." she cursed and her gun flash of four more bullets. It slowed the creature, it groaned at her. From there, there what appeared to be the head leaned back and a peach organ flopped out and it groaned louder at them? The organ separated in the middle to reveal rows of teeth. It reminded her a lot of a leech. Claire felt like throwing up, and she watched her steps while her eyes focused on the thing. Though Hunk was nowhere near her…'Great, he left me to deal with this, why am I...' she couldn't finish the thought for she saw him jump behind the creature and bury his knife inside its mouth. It gurgled on the knife as several bits of teeth flung out and the crimson lens had a tooth bounce right off it. He shoved the blade deeper inside until the upper half of what appeared to be a head was sheared off as the head and organ had its glossy drip out in different directions across the room.

The leech creature convulsed for several seconds before it tripped onto the floor. The body shrunk in size before his hands, until there was nothing but a puddle of blood.

Hunk looked at the woman in front of him, he could swear her jaw hit the ground of how shocked she was. "What the hell is this!? Answer me!"

He sighed and took a clipboard from the ground, most of it were stained with the white liquid but he was able to read some of the things written in it. "Will according to this, his name is Joseph AKA subject 3 of the Abyss experiment."

"Excuse me! This thing was a human?" she shouted. Hunk walked passed her out of the office, once again ignoring her.

"How could this thing even surprise you from what we've seen all night?" Hunk shook his head as he continued to rummage through the desks.

"Well you don't have to be a dick about it." Claire grumbled. She frowned and looked down at remains of the creature. 'What did I get myself into?' She pondered.

"Hey, stop wasting time." She heard Hunk call out.

Together they went through a corridor called 'Section C' Claire could see large windows in the left-side overlooking what it seemed to be a chemical lab. The electricity seem to be working order as well. All the machines inside were lit. Without hesitation she opened the glass window and jumped inside.

She went for the nameless journal on the table before the machines and begin to flip through the pages.

"" **Virus has been under development for five years now, the effects of the test is unbelievable, we had an experiment of five subject for** **our client to** **witness it, we saw the great change in just a few hours. It matches the composition of human but without the bone structure, it was real the subject lost so much of her shape** **that all noticeable features were** **unrecognizable. We're dealing with this very carefully, the virus is not ready yet to be used. She just began the process of discarding her bones** **and the pain limiters are removed so it we can have an idea of average tolerance to the process.** **We're told to work more in perfecting a vaccine in case of an emergency**.""

"A new virus? Is there no end to this?" Claire sighed. "Is this virus already out? Still no answer for the outbreak up in the town."

Judging by the bodies inside that place, they've failed and were murdered by their own creations. "Poetic justice." She whispered. "Rest in peace."

A sudden creek had interrupted her train of thoughts, Claire shook her head, raising her weapon. This new virus destroy the human completely unlike what she saw back in Raccoon city, even now in this poor town. She had to do something about this, if the virus was contained down here, it had to be destroyed. If only Chris was here with her instead of that creepy ass mercenary.

Three corpses emerged, they stood between her and the window where she entered through. Claire could try to make a run for it, but she knew better even as the three men-things moved closer, showing a bloated gray arms and moaned with hunger. They were about to come and attack her.

Shoot! Do it!

"Stop there, Ugly!" She shouted, one of them was close, he was too close. "Aaaahh," the monster groans, about to grab her, and Claire fired two, three shots, the rounds tearing into the rippling flesh. It stumbled as the first two rounds that hit the chest making his step halt for a second, the third supposed to blow a hole in its forehead, but strangely enough there was a white liquid all over the ground. With the third shot, the creature let out aloud squeal and started to shrink, Claire took the chance and aimed at the next one was coming close to her from behind the table, she fired twice at it she spun and her hand found a flask, "Take this." She teased and tossed it at its face praying that the last one is still far around the lab. Claire checked the magazines left in her belt and she cursed of how little she have, it took her a moment to reload the magazine with the last twelve bullets she have. Five of which were left in her gun. Claire was about to move when she heard a wet sounds behind her.

There she saw two bodies had stood up and they were almost upon her, their hungry rotating teeth, their moans eager to devour her. "Oh come on." she whined. Claire observed the situation. "Two zombies, and a bloated creature coming closer, and another one emerged." she sighed. "Four against one girl, this is not my day."

She ran and jumped at one of the tables, the barrel of her flashed before the bloated corpse until it fall for a second, it was a good chance to focus on the zombies.

Her first shot hit the pale man in the shoulder, and as he reeled back, she was about to shoot it Hunk came in. The blackened figure swerved to the left with a careful hook, he punched its face and swiftly he stabbed the other in the face. He had a death grip in place without letting go for a second, he grabbed the other zombie and rotated its neck for it _snap_. Hunk then pulled the head back for it _snap_ again and he brushed the body out of his way.

 _THUD!_

Claire turned her attention to the bloated corpse who trembled on its feet, his throat gurgling the white liquid on her foot.

"Disgusting," she said, but it still tried to grab her, she didn't have much time to feel sick, to think. She raised her aim and fired two, three more times, all the liquid spreading everywhere around her, until the thing started to shrink to a puddle of blood. Several bits of bones rolled out of the blood and water.

"Will you stop with the silent treatment and tell me what the hell is going on?" She screamed at him.

Hunk retrieved his knife and cleaned it from the blood. "I did find some files nearby talking about some side effects and another map of places to go around here." he took something from his pocket and spread it in the table.

Claire raised an eyebrow and put her hand on her chin. "What?"

His finger went through the map and went on. "According to this, there is a section especially for hunters or as you call them, lizards. So the outbreak could have originated from there." Hunk looked back at Claire, he didn't expect to see a shocked expression written all over her face.

"Why are you...?"

"We have a deal correct? The sooner we've done here I'll get rid of you. Come and take a look at this."

While Claire checked the paper, Hunk went over the dead bodies and searched them. Most of them looked to be scientists or other such employees. One of them appeared to be an engineer. Each and every one of them failed the golden rule.

It didn't take too long to find a weapon, and as luck would have it, Hunk was intimately familiar with it. An ATIFX45 handgun he found in a under a body. It was under the engineer's stomach and the blood didn't ooze far enough. It was the same kind that an old friend carried. There was a spare clip and a half box of rounds and it seems their chances of survival skyrocketed. He knew he was bullshitting but having a destructive mindset helps no one and he needs to be sharp.

Though it was only left to reload the gun, with six bullets. Granted the weapon can hold nine with one in the chamber but it was helluva lot better than before.

'I've been expending too much energy. I need to conserve.' Hunk thought to himself as rotated the handgun. The pistol was a Titan Blue model. Shorter barrel means less accuracy. Not something he particularly liked either.

He loaded up and holstered the gun in his belt. "God, there is so many things to look at here." He heard Claire speak

"Since when they were working down here? What's with the experiment?"

Hunk for real, sure she was annoyed by his behavior but he was as confused as her. Usually the Merc was told of what's going on, of hidden labs and more. He started to look over the jackets over the dead bodies, looking for key cards and anything helpful for the doors. He violently stabbed each head before he flipped a several bodies over and searched the pockets. As he did that, Claire kept an eye out for any potential threats. None of the coats didn't bear any fruit. The truth was he felt creeped out, the feeling of Déjà vu is too much. Sure he had seen labs before, but this one is different, there is something about it he couldn't understand right off the bat.

He stood at the door that led back into the corridor, weapon in hand, and told himself that he needed to leave now—and yet not leave. He'd have to search for information, he had to figure this out. Only a few minutes had passed as he searched some more.

"I could go for a soda right now." Claire thought out loud as she did a quick equipment check. Hunk showed little reaction to her statement.

The woman seemed to hold her own fine, it wasn't too late for him to leave in his own and search over the documents— 'Are you crazy?' His brain shouted at him. 'Dumbass, remember the golden rule. Finish your mission and get the hell out of here, she's not important.'

Hunk patted his chest as he doubled checked his own gear as well. Claire raised an eyebrow as it looked like Hunk patted himself on the back. She slightly widened her eyes in a _whatever_ gesture as she didn't know what to think about that.

Claire went over the next room and it was too huge to be done with it in a short time, it had tubes filled of a dark liquid not sure if it is a dirty water or something she doesn't want find out its name. A large machine-thing and there was lizards inside it, they look dead but she didn't want to take chances. Hunk went in front of her toward the desks near the tubes.

They could see a bunch of dead researchers around.

Claire moved closer to the nearest corpse and squatted down next to it. She looked over the wounds and she knew there is no use to this, but still maybe some of them could still be alive. In the recent written journals, she breathed shallowly through her mouth. No sudden noise nor stupid movement, Claire recalled the last creepy facility she walked through on Rockfort Island. Two of the bodies were in a horrible way. She noticed an obvious sign of claw indentions on half the bodies. Some of them had their faces chewed out, something she would never wish to see. A man with a broken pair of glasses had the chin torn away and the left side of his face had bits of skin flak off and the stretched muscle beneath it. Another person had his throat torn out and his lab coat was more red than white.

Claire averted her gaze and went over a computer, she thought that perhaps she might find more about this lab as well as that virus. She tried to go over the welcome screen but it was protected with password. "Ah go figure," she whispered.

She looked back at Hunk who seems to be behaving weird unlike what he was before, up in the town. Claire noticed that Hunk was at her shoulder and leaned it. It unsettled her and by reflex her right arm was about ready to quick draw her weapon. 'Calm down Claire.' She focused on the monitor than let her paranoia get the better of her. He seems to be looking over the screen at something, she frowned and went toward him. 'No way would he do something without me.' She concluded.

She bend a little and watched the screen closely,

""" **Code-name: Night Hawk**

 **He was seen: escaping Raccoon city with only one member of alpha team, he was rumored to been spotted in New-York last year.**

 **The price has went up for the mission, thirty thousand dollars.** **Another fifty thousand if things go smoothly. Several hired mercenaries apprehended him once his location was confirmed.**

 **Night Hawk had to be stopped specially now, he held a great information, it will be the end if Mister Death ever got it. They had to be eliminated, or history will repeat itself. The plan is already moving, and Hunk was sent to the town.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 ***Update:* The mission was successful, Nighthawk is imprisoned in section D and he is been questioned. He'll be dead soon enough, but integration and** **advisement** **is needed.** **We're worried that he could expire before the truly relevant information can be documented** **.** """

"Who's Night Hawk?" she asked.

Without any forgone hidden reaction, Hunk's mask flinched as he leaned away from the monitor. Claire did the same and she really focused on his body language this time.

"Who's Night Hawk?" Claire cocked her head.

"No one." Hunk grumbled.

"Bullshit." She fired back.

"It isn't your business anyway."

"You're not backing out of our deal now, are you?" Claire's left index finger twitched for her pistol.

'Foolish girl…' Hunk shook his head. 'Aw hell…'

"He's...my brother." He said in a single statement. "I'm going to look for him." He walked passed her as he shoved her shoulder out of his way. From there he started looking over the other side of the room. In the same general direction of the clawed up corpses of the former staff. With little light left, his lenses reflected the task ahead.

"Are you crazy?! There's..."

"Shut up, this isn't your business anyway." He retorted back with venom. "You don't want to come fine, I'm going." Hunk _clicked_ the chamber back for the next phase of the mission.

Claire, no longer know what she felt about this. Hunk was sent here to be killed along with his brother. A weird feeling was in her heart, is it pity? Perhaps, she's not heartless after all. For a moment she watched him vanish in the door in the other-side.

Nothing but footsteps echoed down the hallway.

She returned back to the screen, and looked over another file. "The town over the beautiful coast, it had been done, there is too much secrets in there to be ignored, it must be burned with the rest.

'Well I think I learned as much as I could for Chris to act on…'

The footsteps lessened in sound.

'… It's not like he needs my help…'

The plan is clear, eliminate everyone who knew about the experiment, about the children of Raccoon city, if umbrella will ever raise from the ashes, it must be done. Here are some of the names I know so far... the rest were blank, like someone deleted them.

'The place?' Her eyes scanned as much as she could. 'They went it to be covered along with Raccoon city, but it seems not the whole town is damaged… at least so far.'

The sound of the footsteps faded out more.

She held her head between her hands. "This is too much to handle. God help me."

She looked over another file, and it contained photos of the bloated corpses and their names down at the corner, a total of ten photos, it seems the experiment was done in more people then she thought.

"I have to take all of this, if only I have a CD or something to save all of this." She sighed. "Maybe I can find something around here."

Claire could hear nothing but her own breathing by that point.

She found her way around the machines and tubes and went through the door, there she found a large amount of blood on the ground and the hallway seems to be small and narrowed. Claire ran to the end of the hallway to it seems a small room, where she need to be protected and cleansed by some gas, the door automatically closed behind her and some kind of a weird green gas filled the area for a minute.

Claire shivered slightly and went out to the other side. The next place appeared to be a monitor room, multiple screens were working fine. Claire watched the screens until she spotted Hunk. He bent over something. "There you're, so this is..." Something weird appeared at the corner of the screen.

A large figure appeared before the camera, creeping behind the mercenary. "Oh shit! What is that?" The man doesn't seems to acknowledge it yet.

The figure seems to be much larger to be a lizard unless it is some kind of powered up lizard, Claire took out her gun and started running to the other side for the door.

'I really hate having a conscience!' Claire cussed herself out as she got her gun ready and jogged down the same hallway. She decided to follow Hunk for now, until she found something to come back for the computer.

...

Hunk looked over a cell down in the section, he found some papers he wanted to check for more clues. The cold self was now forgotten once he knew Night Hawk is dragged into this. He was too distracted, he didn't hear the sound behind him. His breathing echoed in his mask as he scanned the room.

A giant burst seemed to be coming from the ground, it slammed him off of his feet and knocked him up over the stairs to the second floor of the cells. It happened so fast that he didn't actually see what it was. He moaned in pain, though he could feel the air on his face, in a hurry he touched his face in total surprise. "My mask!?"

He wanted to stand up, but he felt a flaming wound in his abdomen, his finger could feel things are sticking in like a sharp needles. The thing came in again shaking the ground beneath it. Gasping for air he took his gun and aimed over the railing.

It was a giant worm-thing… that inhabited the ground of this place. "Screw you." He whispered under a bated breath, the slow and very bitter burning sensation with every passing second… the gun fired nonstop.

The things that tore through him was that of something felt worse than what it actually was. Gut shot… he'll be fine for an hour at most. He ignored the wound as he wanted to keep the creature suppressed before he can formulate a plan.

Though the worm didn't seem to be effected much, the ground trembled beneath him once again. The worm appeared too fast, it wrapped him and lifted him up squeezing so hard like a snake strangling its prey. Hunk felt more sharp needles going through him over the waist. At last it slammed him down on the sandy ground. His knife was loosened and it flung out of its holster on impact. So Hunk spent his ammo and he needed to be careful on his movement now.

It approached him again from the sight of the kicked up dirt from its movement. Hunk lowered his back somewhat to prep his body for the next attack. The knife reflected in the light and he was ready to make a move. It burst from the dirt of it shriek at him. Then as Hunk was distracted, his left leg was pulled from place and he landed flat on his back. Hunk grunted in pain as the worm went for the kill.

He let out one more grunt and his eyes stared blankly back at the large worm. 'The Golden Rule always take's priority.' In moved his head forward to strike the worm in the head.

For the first time in years, he was feeling hopeless, he bite his lip and tried to push himself to stand, if this the end he won't go down without a fight. The adrenaline continued to pump his mind but he could vaguely feel the blood seep out of him. Several of the needles of the worm retracted from multiple needle-things were ready to impale him.

The worm charged once again, but this time he saw the flash of a gunshot behind him. Much to his surprise, it was Claire, she sprinted in and stood between him and the worm. "What a Giant Ass worm." She shouted until her gun _clicked_ with the last of her bullets.

She put the gun away and took another one, even though his vision was blurry he could figure out what it is, a grenade launcher. "Take this!"

It was diverted off course as the worm tried to retreat. Claire wouldn't have none of that as she slid another grenade into the launcher. Before the worm found move lovely dirt, Claire fired at it for half of the body to be severed. The new bloodied tail flung about as it burrowed below. Hunk stumbled behind her as he walked toward his knife.

Multiple explosions echoed through the place, until the worm was down at last. The worm tried to attack them two more times but Claire blew it up before it had the chance.

Claire coughed over the smoke. "What is that it? I was just getting warmed up! That wasn't much of a challenge."

"Why did you come here?" She heard his voice it was like a faint of a whisper. Hunk sheathed his knife and dropped to one knee. By now some of the adrenaline started to wear off.

She looked down at him and her eyes widened. "You don't look too good." She knelt down in front of him. "I never been the one to leave people behind."

She looked over his face. He had a hooked nose, signs of a mustache, thin lips, and dark-hazel eyes and blasted back brown hair. "You're the one I took the order from." she shouted."You came to my place."

"Reckless bitch." he whispered as he held several wounds. He scrambled to get to his feet again and waddled on several steps before falling to a knee again. He crossed the open dirt on a concrete and metallic floor before he dropped down completely and rest his back on a wall. It was there he could continue his mission from the new hallway.

Claire rolled her eyes, amused, even when he is like this the attitude toward her won't change. "Lay still jerk,"

"What do you think you're doing, I don't need your help." He said and tried to push her away. A blood tear dripped from his left glove as he grunted again.

She took off her jacket then tore it into several strips. "Swallow your pride, unless you want to die." She saw his eyes slowly close, it was obvious his energy was slipping fast.

As carefully as she could, she bandaged him. "Come on, stay awake." Claire kept at it for she didn't know how long until the bandages were well enough to stop the bleeding. 'Maybe I should go and find some water for him.' Claire recalled finding some bottles back around the computer with the information.

She was about to stand up, when she felt his hand stop her. "I don't need it." He gasped.

"Alright." Claire responded. 'He still has some pride after all.'

The two stayed there for moments in an awkward silence, she knew he needed to rest for a while, as so much confusion plagued her mind and she doesn't know what to do about them. She was sick and tired from all of this, yet, still she didn't get much answers that she desired.

Hunk was no good either, he thought this woman just like any other. She stayed here in complete silence. Where she could easily leave him behind and save herself from things down here. More so, she's in the opportune position to try to kill or _arrest_ him.

'No, shut up don't be an idiot, nobody is worth of your trust, all of them are nothing but a backstabbing assholes.' he screamed in his mind as he tried to get back on his feet.

He took several deep breaths then noticed his mask five feet away and walked to it. There was no way he was the same like before but he still had a mission to do. He carefully kneeled down and picked up his mask. He dusted it off some then strapped it back on.

"We're wasting time here, let's go." Hunk walked as tall as he could.

Claire shook her head as he walked passed her. '…Men…'

 **Thank you for reading, things are heating up what do you think? What's the deal with Wesker and that woman? more is coming.**

 **Special thanks to my dear friend The95Will.**

 **To Reaperfan: Thank you soooo much for another good detailed review, reading your reaction ah I'm so happy I did it, this's the reaction that I wanted. Y** **ou're correct Hunk indeed think of her as a sore thump, not worthy of his bullets. Ah yes I see that about how both of them have much in their minds, and this indeed reflect on why they treat each other like that. Not to mention the fact Claire is damaged from the horror and she seeks justice for the victims, from everyone related to umbrella. The two of them now are stuck in a weird fate...not sure how it's going to end, and it is getting weirder.**

 **Operation Raccoon city might not be the best game ever, but I still like it, very entertaining. I really like vector and his team.**

 **Thank you again, not to sure what to say more about this, I truly appreciate it bless you.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I did not disappoint.**


	8. Chapter 7 The secrets part 2

**Special thanks to my dear friend The95will.**

 **Chapter 7. "The Secrets Part 2."**

Hunk and Claire crept down the hall, their steps muffled by thick-dirty carpet, the place seemed to be the nice part of the lab he led her around a turn. Hunk's weapon went first then he continued carefully. The mercenary faintly heard Claire let out a breath at the sight. The place that looked nice, before it was stained with blood and liquids, it's obvious these creatures were everywhere.

The team carefully traversed the lab carefully. There were stragglers of zombies in small numbers here and there. Nothing they couldn't handle. During their exploration, they haven't encountered any Hunters since. Or killer worms…

'So far, so good.' Claire thought to herself. The hall continued on, leading to sections for plants and some had animals mostly dogs. They heard them clearly parking, turning again there was a door on the left they could try. Claire pushed the door open and smiled weirdly at the empty room, at the row of chairs that she could see since it was well-lit.

"People actually live here for their work?" Claire commented. She inspected the room more to see a table with plenty of food on it. "Pretty sad."

He checked the whole dinner table; three plates were filled of chicken parts, four plates of salad, and cups of obvious beer. As nice as the room was, it did seem to hold danger, perhaps recently; something came in and hide in there, maybe around the fireplace, and there were a few things scattered across the floor, empty bottles.

"That's what you think miss holier than thou," Hunk said as he inspected the food.

"What did you just call me?" Claire said coldly. Hunk crossed his arms and didn't bother to look back at her. "You heard me, you behave like this perfect little angel that could do no wrong. Somehow this gives you the right to pass judgment on people around you." He paused for a moment and turned to face her. "Aren't you the same person who wishes to kill me painfully? Explain this to me on how that isn't murder? There will be blood on your hands no matter who you decide to kill, you have darkness within your heart."

Claire slightly titled her head. "Excuse me? This coming from an experienced murderer."

"I do what I'm paid to do." Hunk frowned back at her under his mask."I never laid to myself."

Claire opened her mouth, but nothing came it. As much as she hates to admit it he burned her there, he is right. 'No, what are you thinking, someone like him deserved to punished for what he did.' She was pulled away from her thoughts as there was a noise in somewhere close to them.

They heard a sound in the other side of the room, it seems the sound coming from the other-side of the door, heavy step, then a long pause, then a second step.

Claire exhaled slowly then prepared her weapon, with her eager index finger at the trigger. Hunk went first ahead of her and touched the handle, he gazed back at Claire to make sure, and she nodded.

Hunk held his sidearm tightly and kicked the door open, the other side again had the lab looking ground and looks, a sign above them written on it clearly called **Section D**.

"Alright, seriously the design of this place is strange." Claire shrugged.

This section though, had weird looking eggs spread around, machines all over the place like this is what held the power in the whole base. The both of them watched each other's corners but Hunk was much more professional about it. Claire's brother Chris at least showed her various military techniques but she wasn't at full form to do so seriously. She didn't see Hunk grimace at her on her sloppy technique. He kept it to himself however. Claire walked backwards carefully with her weapon, while Hunk kept his eyes for any possible danger.

They walked around the machines in the middle of the large section and saw an automatic door in the front that immediately opened when they get close.

She heard a quiet gasp under the mask, "What?" though he didn't stay long. He sprinted through what appears to be an operation room.

There was a bed in the middle and wires all around it, in the right side there is a large glass and an office behind it. There was a door in the corner where Hunk went through without hesitation.

"Hey wait up." Claire shouted and ran after him. In the other side, she felt a painful Deja-vu. Something about the area was too similar to the long steel path like the one in Birkin's lab, there off the railing she saw the same, a pillar like machine holding many electricity.

"Night Hawk." She heard Hunk call out in a somber tone.

There was a wounded man curled in a corner around some cut wires, his hands tied to the machines. "No, get back." A muffled voice stammered back. It was obvious he didn't have much energy. The tone of it was all too clear Claire, he was obviously exhausted.

Claire only noticed the red uniform the man wore but she didn't have time to observe him completely.

After one second of silence, they heard a hideous sloshing sound. Claire followed the sound and saw a stains of white liquid coming from... Claire looked up and her eyes widened. "Uh oh." she whispered, she slowly started to back track. "What's that!?"

Hunk turned away from the wounded man, to see what was going on. Something large jumped down from some place. The blue rough exoskeleton just reflected in the already dim light as a small head spouted out of the center that just rotated its head at them. It just grumbled at them. The abdomen section didn't have any visible organs but rather appeared to be a thick tendon of muscle with more of the grey shell covering over it. It grumbled at them again and creature's right arm appeared to be nothing bone and jagged fragments of the exoskeleton. It didn't have a left arm apparently. The thing lowered its right arm. A small head spouted of the left shoulder and it just had an eye blink at them. It stood about double the height of Hunk who was already six foot one. Overall, it looked like a Humanoid Shellfish.

Claire tried to take shot, but it seems the thing is covered like a normal shell. It slammed its arm to the ground and both of them felt the vibrated creep up their legs. A weird sound came out of the creature and it sprinted toward Claire, she tried to dodge and jumped to the side but it was fast, and she felt a flaming wounds in both of her ankles. "Oh." She grunted in pain. The adrenaline must have worn off. She needed to prepare herself mentally again.

Hunk took the chance and aimed at its eye, two, three times. The creature raised its other arm for a moment. Claire pushed herself as far away as she could, but the ground beneath her shock violently. The vibrations this time caused her to lose balance then tripped and slammed to the ground harshly.

She gasped and noticed that Hunk was down too. After that thing slammed its arm. 'That's some worrying strength it has.' She thought.

Hunk stood up and ran around the creature in order to catch its weak spot once again, a one bullet went through, but the creature was fast to turn around and protect itself. Hunk prepped himself to dodge and in less than one second the shell sprinted toward him. He timed it just right for him to side step the behemoth as it stumbled past him.

'It didn't adjust its path…' Hunk thought to himself as he aimed his pistol to fire at sections he believed to be exposed skin.

Claire immediately aimed and fired none stop from the other side. "Come on die." She whispered.

Though the creature continued, once again it raised the arm. 'Try to get as far as possible.' The slam came in again and both of them couldn't avoid the shake. Hunk fell flat on his back as Claire toppled over and landed on her hip. Both of them cast their reserves thoughts aside for a moment.

"Ouch, I seriously can't take this." Claire said as she rubbed her lower back.

"Our little friend doesn't want to say goodbye." Hunk replied while he rolled to his stomach to push himself back to his feet.

Claire dusted herself and stood up. "Alright I'll distract it."

Hunk nodded and carefully walked in the side, to allow Claire to be in front of the thing. His eyes caught Night Hawk for a split second before he positioned himself in the spot.

Claire shot at the thing, fooling it to turn to her. "Don't miss this up."

"Do your part." Hunk fired over the eye, while he moved forward following its steps.

"Take this!" Claire shouted and throw her gun toward him.

The creature once again sprinted toward Claire, and by luck she was able to dodge this time. Hunk held the two guns and fired at the creature, until its eye exploded and the shell broke in half. A sigh of relief escaped her lips and she rubbed her forehead then wiped the sweat away. 'Thank god.'

Claire came forward to see the wounded man.

Hunk knelt down and worked to free him, using his knife. "Keep up the fire" Night Hawk chuckled "What the hell took you so long?"

"Just hold the torch jerk." HUNK joke back as he inspects the wounds.

Nighthawk looked at Claire for a moment, confused, and he gaze returned to Hunk. "Who's the girl? I'm telling you man, bold move to have a date during an outbreak." he chuckled.

"What was that Pigeon?" HUNK said coldly and put a bit of pressure on his waist wound.

"ARGH! Alright, just lay off will ya?" Nighthawk said and lowered his head.

Claire knelt down and took her gun from the ground, near him.

This time, Claire was able to catch a full glimpse of Night Hawk after she holstered the weapon. The red uniform was more crimson with shades of black to them. His torso had some body armor that looks to be slightly heavier than Hunk's. At the rims of his armor had red to it, Claire assumed it was to see the pouches easier in the heat of the moment. What really set Night Hawk apart from Hunk on that he wore a single pair of goggles for his eyes and underneath was some sort of breathing mask. However, it didn't look like the kind that existed on the everyday markets. His helmet was red on the center and white at the sides. Under the mask, goggles and helmet was a balaclava. Just by sheer appearance, Hunk had a rugged gear as Night Hawk had the updated gear.

The two continued some more small talk as Hunk applied some basic first aid here and there.

Claire watched the scene before her silently, his words still echoed in her mind harshly. *You behave like this perfect little angel that could do no wrong, you have darkness within.* Hunk wrapped the man's arm around his shoulders and helped him stand on his feet.

*Explain this to me on how that isn't murder?*

Claire creaked her teeth and waited until the two walked passed her.

Together they returned back to the dinner room, where Hunk gently placed his friend on the chair. He took the plate of salad and held it in front of Nighthawk. "Eat, you need it."

His hands were trembling as he took the plate from him, he stared at the food for a moment, and despite the icky feeling in his stomach he was hungry. He moved his breathing mask and his balaclava.

Slowly he began to eat with a side of spaghetti.

Hunk glanced at Claire who was standing at the end of the table, her cheeks glistered with tears. 'What!?' Hunk thought as he removed his mask, he took out a chocolate bar and begin eating.

"Damn, you used to have such a sweet tooth, look what you done to them." Night Hawk teased. Hunk rolled his eyes and looked away.

"Hey girl, you better eat too, it's not rotten." Night Hawk called her.

Claire sniffed and took a breath. "No I'm fine."

Hunk just shrugged in response.

Night Hawk felt better as he didn't over eat, just enough to possibly give him energy for the next few hours.

They spent a good five minutes resting in that room, and once they decided to leave, they went back to the other side.

They went through what it seems another lobby in the other side of a cells section, Hunk observed the place carefully and noticed there's more cameras in the corners. This meant, from a certain room here he could find access to past recordings, then maybe one of them had caught Night Hawk and the people who took him...somewhere, there was information he needed to find silently.

Night Hawk gently let go of Hunk, he felt his balance was troubled, but he was able to stay still. "I'll take a seat over there." He limped toward a couch.

He felt Claire tabbing his shoulder quietly. He looked back and saw her eyes are focused on something. He followed her eyes and saw a shadowy figure inside a room labeled **Boardroom**.

Without speaking, he singled her to stay quiet and prepare her weapon. Carefully he moved with Claire following behind, his gloved hand touched the metal handle.

He took a breath and opened it without making a sound. The two of them entered and they were met by an ooze corpse stood near the window, the table was a mess it had blooded papers scattered all around. 'Again!?' Claire thought, she was about to aim but Hunk stopped her.

He took out his combat knife and lightly came close to the bloated zombie, he gave it a strong kick on the knees and a punched it in the back.

Immediately his knife impaled its head multiple times until it began to shrink to nothing. In the middle of the blood and insides he saw what it seems to be a name tag, he snatched it out and tried to read the name.

"Caro..." his breath hitched in his throat, "Willow!?"

"I'm not sure what hell is this means, but..." He heard Claire talk, she looked over the pages of a journal. "Spec Ops Echo Six are gone, their freedom is earned, though I don't think it's true and the only survivor they ever found has been brought here. I don't think they made it out before the missile wiped the city off the map."

'I feel this whole thing is a mess, how the hell will Umbrella rise from the ashes? I find it impossible with the loss of many agents and employees, but somehow they're sure their plans will succeed.' Claire watched him closely waiting for something, to comment about this.

"I get it." Was the only statement he said as he stood up and prepared to leave the room.

"What?"

"Shut up, it doesn't matter."

Claire rolled her eyes and sighed. She went over more papers around, hoping she'll find more thing she could use.

A few seconds past, when a sound appeared and it sent chills down her spine. It was Hunk, he was laughing, a laugh entirely empty of humor. It reminded her so much of these creepy laughs she hears in horror movies though mixed with anger.

"Oh dear." she whispered and held into her gun tightly.

Claire walked out of the board room and her eyes looked around for him. He was in the room to her left, standing at the threshold, looking inside a dark room.

Claire felt her heart beat go crazy, her hands trembling as she came closer and closer to him. Though her steps were halted, something inside the room caught her attention, a large image of a man with silver hair. The room it seems like another chemical work place, it was huge and it had two large counters in the middle.

It felt like Deja-vu again. The place reminded her so much of Doctor Birkin's lab in Raccoon city. Claire swallowed a lump in her throat and spoke. "What's so funny?"

'I'm finally able to put the pieces together.' He thought. 'The mission out of nowhere, the nice paycheck, Night Hawk… I should have known.'

Claire shock her head, whispering. "God, you're a creep, answer me?" and still waited for a replay.

'But I won't allow him to smell my fear and doubt, never.' She frowned and pushed the thoughts away.

Nighthawk came in, biting his lips, and held into Hunk. "You see now, buddy, we're nothing but..."

"Thank you, I'll take that as a compliment." Hunk replied to Claire and pushed her out of his way, it was obvious he stopped Night Hawk before he blurts out anything.

"Jesus," Claire said. "This replica of Birkin's lab. What the hell do you know about this, tell me? I've seen the lizards section through the monitor and it seems they've broken through and destroyed everything, someone must have helped the things to break through and go up to the city." She said sharply. "It can't be they broke such security."

"Believe whatever you want, but I have no idea, do I have to remind you of the words you told me." Hunk looked over his shoulder. "Dumb bitch, stop it already with these strange thoughts of yours of somehow I hold all the answers you need." Hunk adjusted his shoulder to support Night Hawk. "I'm just a mercenary."

Claire looked away from him, those words...that hit a nerve. And her... it stung and echoed throughout her mind.

 **The sheet was the only thing covering her body, right there a man stood with a prideful smile. " _Stop it with these laughable thoughts of yours_ …" The voice muffled for a moment as he put a shirt back on." _I don't hold all the answers you need. I thought you understood that it was just physical between us… you were a nice ride babe_." A chuckled echoed in her mind. " _Call me again if you're interested_." A door closed.**

Hunk was already inside to check the counters for any traces of that strange virus, Night Hawk was set down on a chair on the far end. Nothing appeared to be in the immediate area and he leaned back… A metal object poked at the back of his head, just from experience, he knew it was a gun. Hunk slowly turned around to look at her.

Like time slowed down, that look in her eyes held so much rage. "Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked and the red lenses just reflected back at her.

Claire stood still for a moment, the gun shaking in front of his eyes, and a second later the expression was gone.

Claire lowered her gun and looked away.

'You're one strange girl, I give you that much.' Hunk thought.

"Forget it. Look there is a card keys over there. I'll head upstairs, you check down here." Claire whispered and pointed at a stairs near the machines at the back of the room.

"Look at you trying to practice leadership." Hunk teased. "How old are you, anyway?"

Claire shot him a scowl, then turned and went up the stairs.

A few seconds later, the sound of her footsteps vanished.

Once the door closed Claire fall on her knees against the door, she held her head between her hands and sobbed quietly. How come someone like him can shake her morals so much, to the point of crying? Is she the same as him?

At last Claire felt herself calmed down, she stood and wiped her tears. The room was an office for a trio, with a heavy heart she started looking over things. Some documents, and albums. Most of them spoke of Raccoon city and the abyss experiment. It was obvious to her, someone wanted to get rid of the city, wipe it off the map because of all of these secrets underground, these bastards, and they take innocent people to cover up their mistakes!?

Something in the last page of the document caught her attention, she closed her eyes and shock her head, thinking perhaps this is not real. She looked again and it still the same. She brought the page way too close to her eyes, just to make sure she was seen it right.

"No way!?" she gasped. "Is this true?"

 **Name: James A.K.A. Subject 10**

 **Age: 4 years old when acquired. Current speculated to be 22 years old currently.**

 **Codename: Human Unit Never Killed. The title and label given to his control group. Known for wearing a gasmask during all of his missions. The current gasmask was part of an arms deal with European Extremists. He chose it for himself.**

 **The other children however did not survive the course of time.**

Claire didn't find the energy to read much and she checked the date of the report and it said. "April 15 1998." This was five years ago.

It seems to her, time itself halted. She was shocked as her jaw dropped. "Claire you dumb holier than thou."

She searched through the office and found an empty bag under the chair.

"There." she took it and gathered many documents and papers off the desk.

.

.

.

Hunk returned to the large lobby along with Night Hawk, there was multiple doors he needed to check.

"Let's see what's behind door number one," he mumbled, going through the door behind a receptionist desk and he raised his gun, ready to burn everything stand in his way.

It was a resting room, one that had once been quite elegant, there he could see four infected men wander around the bunk beds in the sides of the room, and all them turned and danced toward him. They all looked like computer specialist and two engineering workers, their skin gray and torn, their eyes blank, their arms though were white and bloated. One of them had a fork sticking out of its forehead. Hunk quickly closed the door and stepped inside, a clean head shots had taken them one by one.

Once their bodies laid still on the ground, Nighthawk took a seat and breathed. "This is getting out of hand, what do you think we should do?"

"First, take it easy, second that man will never escape me, even if he ran to the end of the earth." Hunk announced." I will find him, and I'll make him pay dearly for the hell we went through."

Hunk went to the T.V. and knelt down to check VHS taken out of the drawer.

"So this is a recording of the cameras?" he said and put the first tape his hand found and clicked play.

The screen showed the room they were in earlier, with the tube and hunters, there were researchers walking back and forth checking the tubes, the view didn't help him to see what was in there. He tried to check their faces and see if he recognize anyone of them, he went through two tapes of nothing, and the third one.

It started with that clone lab, the screen showed four men dragging something inside and sticking needles in it, more than one. "Hmmm could it be Willow?" Hunk said.

"I never heard anything from Space ops echo six after Raccoon city, do you think they're alive?" Nighthawk asked.

"Maybe...I feel like the members of wolfpack are next. That Russian Asshole has lost his mind." Hunk said.

 **Thank you for reading, oh secrets are finally reveled but it's not over, I'll update sooner this time.**

 **Thank you reaperfan for your greet review: Yeah the worm is inspired by the amazing silent hill.**

 **It always seems to me Hunk is considered this amazing man who cannot be bothered, but I wanted to show him in a vulnerable moment, and it worked nicely. Still the attitude won't change easily lol.**

 **Ah you're going to have to wait a little more for the wolfpack members. :)**


	9. Chapter 8 The Embers of Brimstone

**Note: I'm back :D I had a smooth recovery, it was a good time out I really needed it.**

 **Thank you to everyone who is still around.**

 **...**

 **Chapter 8. "The Embers of Brimstone"**

"So according to this report, he should be around 27 now, his name is James?" Claire whirled the thought in her head. The room didn't have much detail to it other than loose junk. Nothing really either the identity of the owner of this room either. No mail or even a phone but she did get lucky by looking inside the bag. She found something an old article from a newspaper.

* **Missing children's case is still shock among the residents of Raccoon city.** *

By Lily Warren.

Fear has grown in the city and many parents were escorting their children everywhere, watching their every step, and a strange curfew has been strongly suggested by various watch groups. Other residents have expressed other measures on being able to protect their loved ones, such as fire arms. However in the end, two more children have vanished, which has now brought the total to nine.

Eleanor, a heart broken mother of one Ian Anderson, a four year old boy. "I just left my baby in his room sleeping peacefully for a five minutes and I heard the glass breaking and when I returned...he was gone."

Local authorities have been criticized on their handling of the situation. Current Police Chief Bryan Irons has constantly notified the press that there is not statement to be made at this moment in time.

None of these acts make sense at the moment, however the amount of skill involved is too thorough for just random abduction cases. So it seems the criminals are professionals, to be able to snatch a child out of his home like that and vanish without a trace. No clues were ever found about the whereabouts of anyone and... the rest of the article faded so much to the point it was unreadable.

"The hell!?" Claire whispered. "What did they do to these kids? And why are they...?" She sighed and looked down at her hand, remembering their meetings, and what she found out before. She took a moment to reflect from earlier.

" **Okay, you're here for something than other than killing infected. They're the same like in Raccoon City, but this is too perfect. You could have been killing dozens of people but you avoid contact. SO that leaves me to assume you're trapped here as well?"**

 **Hunk remained silent.**

 **"I'll take that as a yes. So what I propose is that we work together until we can get out of this city. Not with those lizard things running around."**

.

.

.

 **The plan is clear, eliminate everyone who knew about the experiment, about the children of Raccoon City, if Umbrella will ever raise from the ashes, it must be done. Here are some of the names I know so far... the rest were blank, like someone erased them.**

'Oh my god! Someone doesn't want him to remember and just get rid of them both, or perhaps they're afraid Hunk and his comrade are going to expose these ugly secrets?' Claire slammed her fist on the steel desk then breathed heavily. Her eyes focused at Hunk's picture attached along with the paper.

'Who are you, Hunk or James or whatever your name is?'

She filled the bag with almost all of the files she found in there determinant to investigate more. She double checked the magazine of her gun by ejecting it. Judging from the weight, she knew that she was low at ammo and there was nothing left in her belt. "Oh great." Claire muttered as she left the room and walked down to meet up with the mercenaries.

Claire stopped for a moment in the hallway, she noticed a portrait of the silver haired man. She memorized his face, the clothes so she'll be able to describe to herself later. Past experience tells her that the minor details are what matters from here onward.

So much stress she went through. Something about the aura of her surroundings, it felt too familiar. She despised this feeling. If only she could return to Annie, get out of this hellhole and perhaps ride with Chris to Washington DC and start all over in a nice apartment. Just like how Annie suggested all the time in the past. Claire grimaced toward how she didn't appreciate Annie enough.

Still, Claire gathered enough information to show Chris. She sighed sadly and walked out of the dim-lit lab. There she saw Night Hawk push himself out of the receptionist room with Hunk follow close behind.

"What happened to you?" Nighthawk asked.

"Nothing." Claire crossed her arms, frowning. "Anything new on your end?"

"We have seen in one of the cameras, this place will be purged in a few minutes." Night Hawk grunted at the end of his sentence.

Claire just rolled her eyes and face palmed into her left glove covered hand in response. Her mouth slightly open then moved her hand away, she could almost feel the color draining from her face. "Again?"

"It happens. Just don't expect us to wait to save your sorry ass." Hunk nodded.

Claire opened her mouth to say something but Hunk just cut her off.

"This is war, survival is your responsibility."

Claire swallowed a lump in her throat and looked at Hunk. "Whatever you say, I'm not bitten so rest assured." she paused and waited for an insult to come her way, but to her surprise... nothing.

"I'm done." She announced.

"Done with what? Oh I see, so the Redfield girl finally found what she seeks?" Hunk breathed and avoided looking at her.

"Hallelujah." Night Hawk continued with a chuckle and he held a hand up.

Claire mentally cursed, wishing to kick their asses so bad for this cold treatment. "I don't want to argue with you anymore."

"Works for me, move it now, we're not going to wait for you." Hunk stated as he walked past her with Night Hawk. To her surprise of on how the Red Merc could walk on his own now. 'Looking good, it must be the adrenaline if I had to guess.' She paid attention to Night Hawk's posture. 'Maybe they found a first aid kit.'

They paced up the steps. Hunk in the lead, Night Hawk in the center, and Claire watched their backs and made sure to constantly look over her shoulder. Hunk leading them to the right. In front of them was a set of elevators, part of the pathway that skirted the building covered with more white liquid things of the virus. It turned sharply, the turns were covered entirely by overgrown eggs and white things, giving the creepy feeling of a cave like place, and they were going straight a slimy version of hell. Hunk and his comrade were first, but Claire was able to keep up with them good enough. Her concern was directed more to the reappearance of bloated corpses bumble about. With a frustrated sigh, she had enough by all of these damned things. They appeared to be about thirty feet away and they just fidgeted amongst themselves.

Claire could see the men were talking with each other, but they were so quite she couldn't hear any words. Troubled by what she found out earlier, should she question Hunk about it, or keep it hidden and walk out with the files?

"There." Claire nodded head to a specific direction at a sign labeled 'Section H.'

It was a creepy corridor was long for some reason, she couldn't help but wonder why? Perhaps there is something covered by that white thing. To the right of the sign just ahead was what looked like a glass elevator, of all things. Hunk wasn't sure it was their best bet, but through there, they could get out to the town again and smell the air.

The door slid open, after Night Hawk pressed the button. Hunk placed his back to the right wall as Night Hawk did the left, a stagger approach so they won't possibly harm each other in a crossfire. Claire decided to stack up behind Night Hawk. Something unpleasant could burst into the hall. They just prepped for the wrong direction.

A fiercely high squeal of a creature rattled the area and it took place right behind the three of them.

"StooooPPP I'm HOMAN!"

Many strange words they couldn't figure out what it is. "Get a move on!" Hunk and Claire were about to ran to the elevator, but white liquid spread blocking the entrance, as a corpse fall down in front of the door. It even had a left arm wiggle about as it spoke more incoherent words. Its bloated corpse stood almost as tall to what the hallway could allow. The creature had a large gapping mouth with reformed ribs to function as teeth. It had blue hue skin which faded into a dark red to the left shoulder. Out of the shoulder, spouted out what appeared to be a person.

"Go Night Hawk, I'll catch up with you!" Hunk screamed. Claire eyes darted around the place, it seems like they're surrounded from the multiple voices. 'Not good.' she thought.

"It was nice knowing you." Night Hawk yelled back as the door closed.

"Good luck to you too asshole." Hunk lightly shook his head.

Through the dark the silhouette of the creatures appeared slowly, Hunk counted the number of 10 separated in both sides, coming their way. Claire took her gunfire posture and back tracked until her back touched Hunk's. "Well, we're in for a party huh?"

Hunk chuckled. "We're the guests of honor here." He took out both the gun and his combat knife. "Let's rock!"

Claire fired nonstop at two ooze creatures charging at them. One of them stumbled back from the punishment then it let its tongue slip out exhausted. She sprinted at it then bend down using the opportunity and kicked them as hard as she could.

A knife was twisted and torn out completely form an ooze's head as Hunk reached into his lower back pocket and took out the one spare magazine he had. "Use this!" she heard Hunk and the sound of bullets thrown in the ground behind her.

Again she did a slid like kick tripping the creature near her, adrenaline igniting within her body, and like and she caught the magazine and loaded her gun. It chambered the first round as Claire smiled for a second as she was tugged forward by several inches which caused her to lose her balance.

It was the giant mouth monster.

Though she felt a heavy grip held her ankle, harshly she slammed on the ground, the creature pulled her backwards and up. She grunted and fired at the creature while she's upside down, trying to move. She caught of glimpse of something that had her feel sick to her stomach. A bluish arm spouted out of the body and dozens of bones freely arranged themselves to and a bone chilling sound occurred… teeth of a bone chainsaw spun around. She needed to avoid the saw-like arm coming, eager to carve up flesh.

Panic took over her, though to a luck, her aim caught the eyes of the shoulder head and it dropped her down on her stomach. It would hurt a lot if she bothered to care at the moment.

She flipped in her back and shot the large corpse again and again, though two more ooze corpses has cornered her. With her left arm she caught the knife and sliced, the things legs.

Claire took the chance and pulled herself away from them. Right in the front she saw Hunk try to bring down the creatures around him.

'It's like they never end.' Claire frantically thought.

It was then that Claire rolled one her back for several feet while Hunk kicked an ooze away from him and then he walked backwards. Claire eventually stopped then immediately got back on her feet. The oozes and the giant one were grouping up for an assault.

Hunk and Claire stood side by side.

"Got any ideas?" Hunk asked.

"You're the merc, you tell me." Claire retorted.

"I got one, but it'll put you in the most danger." Hunk wiped the blood of his knife on his left sleeve.

"Why don't I find that comforting?" Claire replied.

"Save your jokes when this is over. Just be prepared and just run at me when I shout at you." Hunk checked to see if his knife was still sharp. It was on mid end but not at the tip. Not a good sign… sure guns need bullets but blades need to be sharpened.

Hunk fired several bullets to have the oozes stagger and several in the giant one. He noticed something peculiar happen then it just helped him on the decision of his rather admittedly half-baked plan.

"How much do you weigh?" Hunk asked.

Claire dropped her shoulders and gave Hunk a raised eyebrow. She just wanted to utter _seriously_? At him.

"Grow up." Hunk reversed his knife for the incoming attack.

As soon as Hunk said that the creature began to move again to see it advance. Hunk and Claire prepared for their own counter attack. Hunk reversed his knife again then tossed it with complete effort to the charging creature for it to land near the center of the shoulder bodies' heart. Knife throwing was not his thing but desperate times…

It cried in agony and it stopped moving and snapped its top part to the pair. Underneath the blade was a river of blood.

"We have to go for the heart!" Hunk sprinted forward.

Hunk charged completely toward the creature. Since he didn't have his knife, Hunk instead used his fists to shove away an ooze that blocked his path. That didn't stop the ooze to swipe its claw at him and it grazed his left shoulder. Claire still had no idea what Hunk was rambling on about or how he become suicidal. A loose bone pierce the skin and propelled itself outward in an attempt to impale Hunk. He didn't move out of the way fast enough so it wedged itself in his body armor. The chainsaw arm swung downward and Hunk just jumped forward to avoid it completely as the stood face forward to Claire's direction as well.

"Now!" Hunk shouted.

Claire just noticed what he did. He created a path.

"Argh!" Hunk grunted to himself as he crouched down and cupped his fingers together. Claire sprinted completely forward at Hunk. Claire shot an ooze in the head as she ran at Hunk. When Claire reached Hunk she used her left leg on his hand and he lifted her up. Claire jumped up so she was at eye level with the shoulder body and she drop kicked the knife for it to dig deeper in the creature. Once the giant creature lost its balance, it was ready to topple over, that meant that Claire had plenty of footing to use as she slid down for her legs at the stomach. She pointed the gun directly into the creature's face and she unloaded the clip.

The creature slammed into the ground as Claire was thrown forward but rolled on her back then out of control as she ended up on her stomach again…

There wasn't a whimper of pain while blood seeped out of the creature then dissipated into a puddle of bloodied water.

Claire got to her feet again to see Hunk pull the spike of his armor them used it by sticking it inside an ooze's tongue. She looked at the puddle again to see Hunk's knife, she sprinted in his direction while kicking Hunk's knife in is direction. It skipped on the metal floor for Hunk kneel down for it. Claire covered him by kicking an ooze in where a sternum was supposed to be.

With the biggest threat being taken care of, the two sprint down the hallway before the adrenaline wears off. It wasn't that long as when a door offered a way out.

They kicked the door open and it gave away without any much pressure, revealing a big office space, only cubicles were scattered around without any tubes like the room before. Hunk breathed and sat on his knees cleaning his knife, his gun is officially empty, and the chances of survive has decreased more.

Claire let go of her gun and laid down on the ground allowing herself a little moment to rest, she felt every inch of her body hurt after all over. She felt her waist wound flame up again, she felt the sweat in brow drop down to her eye. She took a moment to brush it sweat out.

Just in the moment to close her eyes for more than a blink, comforted her. For real she wanted to close her eyes and fall asleep for just a moment, but not a chance if she wanted to get out of here alive.

She heard a sigh, "You're bleeding." Hunk broke the silence, he shook his head and returned his focus on the knife.

"I don't care." Claire tilted her head at the hole torn into his armor from the bone the giant creature used on him. "Not looking good there yourself."

"It's nothing, just wedged into the armor." Hunk decided to reaffirm the straps to his uniform before they went on the move. The claw attack earlier felt more like a paper cut and he didn't worry about it.

Claire breathed, and placed her hand on her forehead, her eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. "I cannot stop thinking of what you said before."

Hunk put down the knife and looked in her direction again. Claire continued, "After Raccoon city, I just had this thought in my mind, all of how Umbrella should be punished, all of them are nothing but an evil people who don't deserve mercy. I'm the hero, the good woman who will save people."

"Why are you telling me this?" Hunk asked.

Claire closed her eyes, "Just shut up and listen." She pushed herself to a sitting position, her eyes looked directly at his crimson lenses. "I don't know who you are anymore."

"Again, why are you telling me this?"

Claire frowned and held her breath. "Shut up James and listen I have to say..." Claire wanted to say that was a mistake on her part, but she knew what she was doing. Hunk flinched at the name then he paced toward her in a slow terrifying steps. Her eyes stayed focused at him while her hand searched for the knife from her belt.

Hunk hovered over her. "What did you just call me?" his voice was so cold, it frightened her to the core.

She wanted to speak, but her tongue was at hold, there is limits and Claire knew she went passed them and brought his bad side. In a calm manner, Claire used the wall to help support herself into standing up again. She opened her mouth several times but nothing came out.

Claire didn't see that coming he jumped at her and held her throat tightly raising her up the wall in a death grip. "Speak you bitch, where did you hear that name!?" The lenses revealed just on how uncharacteristically calm she was. "What do you know of that!?"

Claire struggled, she could feel her pulse in the neck and his hands. "I...hav..." Hunk let go of her neck and she leaned back to the wall coughing for several seconds.

Once she looked up a knife pressed at her throat. "Start talking."

"Back in the Birkin's-like lab, there was an office. I found file talking about you..." she paused and took her breath. "And the missing children of Raccoon city. Your name is written down, your age and codename group, there was a picture attached in there. That's all I know."

His fist came down in the wall way too close to her, a strong punch broke through the wall, where she could swore she tasted hints of iron in her mouth. Claire grunted and hold swollen waist. While Hunk walked away, his back facing her. He started to walk back and forth like an angry wolf ready to attack and she knew better to not be strong good girl, there is a time to brave.

Though her recklessness took over once again. "So it's true, all of it. You're..." he came in again with his hands at her collar.

"Shut the fuck up! My name is Hunk, the Merc who has never fail a mission. No one can escape my wrath." Hunk held the collar of her shirt tightly. "If anyone ever find out these information I'll kill you."

Claire nodded slowly, and a strange pat on her head followed. "Never try your luck with me anymore, Redfield."

Hunk walked in front of her and stopped. He looked over his shoulder.

"Final warning."

Though despite of everything this got her more curious , why did he react like she just touched a nerve? ' Is he running away from his real Identity, why?' Claire thought, the usual anger within her heart was gone, it was all replaced with curiosity-tiredness and claustrophobic all at once.

"I'm sorry." she was able to whisper.

Hunk looked back at her," Did you just...apologize?"

"Yes." Claire answered without a hint of shame.

"Whatever we had to move. There should be a stairs we could use."

Claire waited for him to walk in front of her, thinking how the hell his mood change just like that in mere seconds? she opened the door to check the hall outside, think what they could do.'I had enough I just want to get out of here.' she thought.

 **Thank you for reading, I hope you liked this. I know it's short, longer chapters are coming.**

 **Special thanks to my beta reader The95will.**


	10. Chapter 9 The end of all things

**Note: the confusion with the reviews, it's because I removed an extra note from before.**

 **Chapter 9."The end of all things part 1."**

There was no time for questions, no time to wonder what's going on? The spread happened way too quickly if this was an accident. Based on the observer could state from experience. Black heavy combat boots echoed off the asphalt of the street. Two figures in the shadow walked in parallel with each other as on tapped the other's back. Both had gasmasks. One with a hood as the other had blonde tied back hair. Dim sapphire hues of light carefully continued onward.

Vector motioned for Bertha to be careful, he could sense that both of them were being watched by creatures in the shadows of the town. In several seconds, Vector stepped back and angled his back to a wall on his left and had his weapon aim down range. Bertha did the same as both directions of the alleyway were covered. The streets and the hissing sounds got louder, four hunters jumped towered the black clad soldiers.

There was a fifth hunter and it walked past the group with a corpse still punctured with its left claw. A small child, just the age of nine with eyes rolled back with a mangled flesh at where the throat should be. The last expression of shock persist and the left arm hung on with close skin while a bone was severed from the rest of the skeleton. Just another causality of the attack.

The creatures looked down at them with their narrowed hungry expressions. One of the hunters started to drool through its bladed teeth. "Come to play?" Bertha raised her rifle while flashes of light pierced through the darkness.

The blast went through its chest and it busted with black blood as the creature laid down lifeless, she leaned forward and jumped to the side avoiding another claw coming her way. Vector stepped in and fired at the closest hunter so it was forced to place its back against a wall while blood erupted from the chest like a geyser. The rest of the hunters decided made their move. The fifth hunter flicked its right claw to discard the corpse to the ground.

She rolled over on her back raising the gun again, her fast-swift aim had caught another hunter with two shots, killing it. Vector used his sub machine gun and started to fire none-stop. He kept his posture leveled and he moved so he won't give the creatures a chance to claw him, while mentally prepared for any charged attack. The light of his gasmask went brighter as a tear drop of blood landed on left lens.

The hunters did not stand a chance. Bertha ejected a magazine and yawned. "The effectiveness has really declined. It's like the hunters are more like wild dogs than wolves." She shook her head.

"I haven't spotted any Alphas." Vector cocked his head while Bertha walked past him.

"On point." Bertha arched her back then prepped her weapon.

"Roger that." Vector followed in formation behind her.

The two walked through the park, to their surprise a large part of the place remained untouched, the perfect place for relaxation. Their assumptions still held true when they discovered on other side were corpses of people and hunters. From a glance, the bodies were slashed and shot; meaning zombies. Two of them were stuck over the steel gate to outside of the park, and another zombie was impaled to a tree. "So it's true, Hunk was here." Bertha leaned in to get a closer look at the handiwork.

This situation didn't make sense, and Vector would bet money that Wesker withheld information. He had no choice but to trust him on where they should go, but he was going to be very careful when it came to depending on Wesker for information and escape plan. "Wesker… you're thoughts?" Bertha asked.

"Sergei is the new de facto leader according to Spectre. Wesker and Sergei are constantly making power plays to each other." Vector aimed down an open space and Bertha walked past him. "Destroy this, hide all of the evidence in order to create a new and refreshing one."

"We could end up dead along with Hunk and Lone Wolf." Bertha replied.

"Affirmative. We're in the middle of a sick game Bertha." Vector cut the conversation short. He crouched next to the steel gate, he could see a strange liquid spread over it. His fingerless gloves allowed the tip of his fingers to touch it carefully and he rubbed with his fingers. It did feel strangely sticky and had a grey color mixed with blood and what it seems to be bloody pieces. "What the hell is this?"

She kneeled down and sweep it with something small in her hand. "For study." Carefully she put the small sample in her pocket and secured it.

The two left the park, trying their best to not be visible to the eyes even though the town seems to be like a ghost town. The large house was right before their eyes. The house where Hunk was signed to be in it and immediately Vector blasted the lock over the gate then sprinted inside to the front door. While Bertha stayed behind watching the area and make sure it was safe.

Darkness welcomed him inside, he couldn't hear any sound inside...deathly silent.

"This is Vector, can you hear me sir?" His gun's light pointing at all the scanned all directions for potential threats of the living room and the stairs.

"This is Vector, can you hear me?" He searched for any kind of sign. The corpses with clear cuts to them were more that easy to identify the work of a professional.

Vector went up the stairs with light feet, barely audible to the ears, up the hall he found three bodies over a pool of blood and it seems to trail down to an opened room at the end of the hall.

'So he was here indeed?' He thought to himself.

The office was a complete mess, paperwork was scattered everywhere around a dead body.

Their time was running out, the BSAA will be here soon and this mission will become more trouble than it's worth.

Something on the ground near the shelf caught Vector's attention. "Bertha." He coldly spoke into his radio, it was built into his gasmask. "Get in here hurry.

Boots echoed from the hall as Bertha entered the room. "What's going on?"

"Just come here and I'll show you." He brought his hand down still looking at the thrown picture of a brown-reddish haired young woman. "Why are you here?"

.

.

.

Hunk walked quietly through the hall, careful not to attract anymore creatures toward him, especially now with no ammo. He make his way around to the stairs door. Finally, he know the people responsible of this; he'd expected them to try to message him again, but they apparently were waiting for the moment to report the possibility of his death.

'Yeah, in their dreams.'

The contract is has been preplanned to be terminated by the violations of the conditions. A professional cannot allow such an easy occurrence to just happen. It wasn't like he needed them. He still get calls from many people who hire him even after Raccoon city's destruction. Still though, some mercenaries still live by standards.

Overanxious, Hunk took out his knife to wipe away some of the blood onto his left sleeve. He walked into a new area to see a potential threat but knew he shouldn't exhaust too much of his energy.

Hunk bend over and crawled as quite as possible, once he reached the hall and saw several creatures in the distance. He could hear Claire not too far behind his steps. He heard her breathing which was rather loud, but he didn't want to waste time over a pet peeve. The stairs were right up ahead, just a little more and they could be safe.

For some reason he felt pretty heavy now, sweat drifted down from his forehead like he just washed. At last he reached the other side of the hall and went up the stairs running, the stairs was a bit long like he was going up a tower. He expected to hear Claire blurt one of her jokes, like what a way to exercise or how a person could lose weight, much like that _other_ person he knew.

"Jackass." Hunk said in his mask but it wasn't auditable enough for Claire to hear it.

Still she remind quite, staggering a bit over the wall because of her wound obviously. 'Come on, now is not really the time to think like that.'

Claire came in front of him still silent, she turned the handle and carefully looked at the hallway there. The hall had wood flooring with a carpet for decoration. Other than that, the walls had the usual affairs of pictures of locations and loved ones for the home owner. Hunk grimaced to himself at the sight of hardwood flooring. The unintentional sound that could give away his location and just hearing every creak. It sounded worse than nails to a chalkboard. There was plenty of dim light, enough for them to see some of what was in there, even though the hall was dense with dust.

To their luck nothing was there, Claire sighed in relief and went through. Hunk checked the place and saw the familiar sight of rusted hospital rooms, he is almost outside of this hellhole. He stood in the middle of the path, the red lenses reflecting the walls and the corners, once again something in his gut told him this won't be easy, like another problem is waiting for them somewhere to slow them down even more.

He was about to speak, though Claire kept looking and walking in front of him like he doesn't exist. 'Yeah that's better.'

He stood about four inches taller than Claire so he still had a clear view over her. Claire kept her back somewhat bent and constantly shifted her head to anything remotely suspicious. Hunk let her do the immediate area while he keep his mask upward for something that could make their direct way to them.

Just more dust and bodies.

"Should we hold up in a room?" Claire didn't break her concentration toward their surroundings.

"Negative. I've wasted enough time as it is."

Claire shook her head slightly. Hunk didn't pay much attention for her to make another quip… She didn't. A minute later, Claire and Hunk walked at a branching hall into two different paths. Claire raised her hand and Hunk drew his knife for a threat. Claire just moved her had in the direction of a nearby corpse. Hunk had his left gloved hand gesture for her to wait there as he would approach to check it out.

There was a Magnum locked in the cold, stiff fingers of a dead man. The man was face down to the ground while his torso went into the hall, the legs were in the room. Hunk knelt down and checked for pulse, there was none he could feel. Hunk lightly tugged at the hand which held the gun... he was wary of any kind of movement.

Once the fingers released its grip. Hunk checked the weapon. A Smith & Wesson Model 19 revolver. He tested it by pulling the hammer back with his thumb and the cylinder rotated with the hammer. It was in working condition. Hunk checked the cylinder and it contained two bullets while the other four were spent. He carefully removed the empty bullet casings then set them on the floor.

'Better than nothing.' he took a moment to listen, making sure the thing this man was shooting is not here somewhere lurking. He saw Claire pull something from between a pile of stuff, it looked like a large knife. She dusted it off and breathed onto it for more dust to carpet the air. Claire coughed for a moment then waved her hand even though it wouldn't help.

Claire looked back at him, the first time ever since their fight inside that room down stairs. "You know, it is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not." She whispered.

"Excuse me?" Hunk stood back up as he set the revolver in an empty pocket.

"Although in spite of everything, we do make a decent team." Claire tilted her head with a smile. "I won't forget this and you have my word I won't turn you in to the BSAA."

In this moment Hunk frowned under his mask and he had to speak about this... get it out of his system. "That is it. What are you? Why are you like this?" The smile vanished from Claire's face and went into a defeated posture.

"You wanted to murder me, you vowed to follow me around for arrest, and after everything I did. You still came back to help me, mend my wounds and never left me behind even though you got so many chances to leave." He finally stopped and waited for an answer.

Claire heaved a long sigh. "Force of habit, I never leave anyone behind, I'm in no way agree with your golden rule, if I was able to save one life then I did good no matter what, this what makes me human. Teamwork is always good and I still have to question this rule of yours, you say nothing is worth your time, a mission is what really matters to you yet you stick around for your brother and... I don't get it." She stopped wondering if he'll remain calm and continue talking to her, or perhaps creep her out again. Still she was not sure he is that heartless anymore, still terrified her so much of how unpredictable… he was.

Hunk didn't say anything and went walking ahead for her.

Claire used to have a voice in the back of her mind, a way of thinking and **instinct kept her on fire**. But everything happened to her so far, had made her views change dramatically. Still she kept asking herself the same question.' Why him of all people could have this kind of power to challenge her?'

Hunk just sighed. "There is nothing to add to this, Redfield. We made a deal, I plan to honor it. However, I do not see promises at the same level as deal."

Claire looked up.

"You spoke of not turning me in to the BSAA. It's just a hollow phrase to me." Hunk walked beside Claire.

"I meant what I said." Claire frowned at him.

"Just don't take things too much to heart based on my skepticism." Hunk leaned against a nearby wall. "You meant what you said when we met."

"You're seriously an asshole." Claire clenched a fist.

"That's more like it." Hunk replied while he straightened his mask some.

"The BSAA could use some insight on this." Claire shrugged.

Hunk moved away from the wall. "Not likely. All former-Umbrella employees, we're all guilty by default." Hunk opened his back pocket and looked at Claire. "Not that is matters to me though."

Hunk passed off the revolver to Claire. "Here, finders keepers"

She accepted it and checked the cylinder.

Hunk spoke up again. "We need to keep moving. By now the National Guard and BSAA have mobilized."

"Gotcha." Claire rubbed her forehead and took a deep breath. "Lead the way."

 **Thank you for reading, I hope you like it so far.**

 **There is more to come stay tuned, longer chapter is coming soon.**

 **Special thanks to my beta reader The95will**


	11. Chapter 10 The Arrivel

**Chapter 10. "The Arrival."**

Three helicopters created a noise that disturbed the silent night, over the ghost town. The streets below had dozens clouds of smoke waved in the wind and reflected the red of fire. The area bellow the helicopter wasn't the most appealing but several darkened strings of rope dropped down onto a vacant street corner. Multiple shadows took hold of the rope and let gravity take care of the rest.

"Bio-Weapons spotted." The pilot spoke into his headphones. "Happy hunting, Captain Redfield."

A bulky man walked forward, he tugged on his vest then took hold of is assault rifle. He wore a light brown long sleeve shirt with black fingerless tipped gloves, same colored pants and completely armed to the teeth. His hair was clean cut short and his chin had several sprouting whiskers. Clearly at the peak of his physical condition. "Roger that." He turned to face the other agent, so much determination written on his face. "Everybody prepare for landing." His shoulder glowed in the light of a patch on his left shoulder. The BSAA North America.

A yellow light appeared in the helicopter and rope was tossed outside. A woman walked behind the captain with a calm expression on her face. She had a charcoal grey baseball cap with a ponytail out through the hole of the back. Her torso was covered in a beige color with a black vest layered on top with beige pants. A MP5 sub-machinegun with a holstered pistol on her right thigh.

"Let's hope the death count is low." She said then fast roped down. "I left a note at home saying that I was going to be busy for the next several days." The woman flicked her hands to shake off the rope burn.

The Captain followed her shortly and smiled when he landed. "So this is what married life feels like eh Jill?" The woman turned around with narrowed eyebrows and a light punch followed. "Your hubby missing you already?"

"Shut up Chris."

Multiple agents followed, fully armed and ready.

"The reports stated that the National Guard was able to contain the spread. Staff Sgt. Dwight Boykin is rallying survivors." The Captain crossed his arm. "Echo Squad is on search and rescue, as for us we're Seek and Destroy, got that?"

"Roger that." "Loud and clear." "I copy."

"On point, Nivans." Chris nodded as the rest of the squad of nine checked their surroundings.

"Yes sir!"

Once the helicopter flew at a safe altitude, the squad walked in formation. Jill could feel the cold wind kiss her skin. There was a clear sight of wreckage and bodies littered the street.

They saw in front of them a dirty waterfall, stains of blood started to appear before them. They could see destroyed planter, it had an obvious signs of claws. Flower pots thrown everywhere, over broken fences.

"Contact! 20 meters to the East." Chris commanded, pointing at the direction of houses in the left side.

There he could see shadows of creatures dancing. He waved his hand forward as four Agents broke off from the group to take care of the problem.

Jill went in the front, stepping sideways across the messy street to look in the direction she meant to go. She nodded to herself that the there was more to this Seek and Destroy mission.

And she heard it, the soft, pining cry of trio of zombies, half hidden by the shadows. Jill targeted the darkest part of the shadow and waited sadly for it to step into view. Reminding herself that it wasn't really human, not anymore, the real people died hours ago. Her lip winced at seconds after she finished clearing out the alley as more bodies decorated the town, she only went for burst fire, so there wasn't a need to replace the magazine. She aimed and fired a head shot of two zombies, there where she saw more coming.

"Two targets straight-ahead, stay on guard." Jill shouted, and aimed her weapon. It felt like thunder and lightning as the five agents fought against the approaching zombies. Brass rained out to the ground as the gun smoke perfumed around them.

"Jill and I run some recon!" Chris stood close to Piers. Over the gun fire, the two had to stand close to each other's shoulder to shout at one another.

"Yes sir! We'll handle these targets and we'll regroup with you later." Lance Corporal Nivans stated to Chris and Jill.

"Roger." Jill ran along with Chris following behind. Jill stepped forward slowly, her ears caught the familiar sound of growling as she walked with her finger ready on her trigger. Razors skidded on the concrete with the shrieking sound that echoed behind the two.

The two of them reached the street-market. The chaos had done its work within the region. Most the bodies were mutilated to the point of being unrecognizable. Among them was a man who died in a slouched position with his back out. The muscles were ripped out like string and the exposed white shine wasn't welcoming in the dark. The bones appeared to have the marrow seeped out like drained puss. All the man wanted was to shield someone who died underneath him. Chris looked around and counted 8 victims to 12 perhaps.

"Rest in peace." Chris whispered. "My sister's work place should be around here."

The sound of nails skidded on the ground and the silent hum was all too clear.

In the middle of the silence two dogs charged toward them, Jill fell a bit startled but she immediately aimed at the dog and several bullets knocked the damn think back. Chris picked up the pace and aimed his Samurai Edge, though the dog has dodge two of his bullets he was able to have a clean head shot on the third attempt.

"Nice work." Jill praised and she continued in the front.

"Appreciated." He nodded. From there, he smiled at Jill's MP5. The weapon was rigged to fire 10mm rounds and those bullets are enough to put a hole in a person and knock 'em off their feet. Instead of the curved 9mm loadout, the 10mm had straightened magazines.

"Where do you think this started?" Chris walked past her then watched the opened areas of the street.

"Nothing as of yet. Command thinks that this could be Veltro..." Jill grimaced to herself when she noticed Chris frown at the streets. "Any word on your sister?"

"I'm tried to contact her."

Out of nowhere a loud explosion echoed, where Chris felt himself shoved harshly in the other direction where he slammed on a stone stairs. He groaned to himself as he rolled onto his back.

"Chris are you okay!?"

Though he was stunned for a moment, unable to talk, not yet realizing what happened. He almost swore his life was flashing before his eyes. "Y...eah."

Jill bit her lip and looked at the other side. "Gas leak." Chris slowly pushed himself up to see the orange light, eating a house in the other side.

"What a mess." He whispered then signaled Jill to move.

Chris had his weapon ready to go. On the first hour of walking, the two soldiers took care of the occasional lone zombie but didn't come across any pockets of survivors. There was no time to even make a stop to access certain areas. Jill didn't hold him back, all she did was make sure was that he would be alive. Eventually, the duo reached Claire's place.

The coast Diner came into view, and his heart skip a beat.

Once the duo reached the path to their right, they heard creatures screech, through the shadows two hunters jumped down at them. Both standing tall with their greyish green scales while their large claws were still the same. Jill mentally prepared herself for the jump, to say the least.

Chris had a problem to deal with who came behind them. The creatures charged and jumped at her, Jill felt the adrenalin rush through her and swiftly she spun around and knelt down dodging the claws. The small gust of wind brushed past her. The Hunter rolled over the ground and adjusted itself upward to stand on the other side of the duo.

Her gun flashed, piercing the creatures and their blood spurt out. From the shadows of the street, moaning approached them. Jill raised her weapon and fired her gun to keep the other Hunter at bay. Chris stood up again and didn't react fast enough as a zombie lunged at him. The fingers clenched a sleeve and he clenched a fist. He clenched a fist and did a right hook to the temple of the zombie which had it loosen its grip slightly and kicked the zombie.

 _KlloookkK!_ The shoulder was completely dislocated, which made it easy for Chris to twist the arm then punched the shoulder again for it bone to separate. Chris had his chance to lean down to pull out his pistol, and shot again it directly through the nasal cavity. The blowback of force had the spine snap and Chris shoved the corpse aside. Jill walked beside her partner and had her gun clear out the targets that threatened Chris. In the distance was the second Hunter, with a chest full of bulletholes.

They walked to the glass double doors. "Claire!" Chris called out as a bead of sweat drifted down his forehead.

Jill observed the place, oddly enough it seems untouched by the chaos that spread outside. She looked around saw various meals still neatly placed sparsely around. Chris came through the kitchen and again no one is in sight. He took a satellite phone and tried again, this time Annie's number.

.

.

.

"My god Mr. Redfield." Annie answered after few seconds.

"Annie are you alright? Where are you now?" He went to the point. "Where is Claire?"

There was silence in the other line one second that made him feel his world is about to crash. "I'm so sorry." She whispered and Chris felt his blood boil.

"We bumped into someone... she swore to follow him and, I didn't hear from her for hours now."

Chris slammed his fist on the table, his punch was strong enough to make it sway a bit. "Something is going on here! God dammit Claire!" He screamed and hanged up the phone without even saying a goodbye.

He put his finger in his left air. "Eagle 6 reporting in, we received news that several groups of highly armed personal walked on the streets just hours after the outbreak started."

Chris left the kitchen and met with Jill. "Come on, it looks like trouble awaits."

"Chris wait." She held his hand. "I know how worried you feel right now, you don't have to hide it." Chris looked back at her for a second, Jill went on. "Claire is my friend, and I want to find her too."

Chris's lips twitched a bit with half a smile, and he let go of her hand. "Danger always finds my sister, I have to be there to keep her alive." He muttered. "She's the heart of our family."

"BOWs spotted!" Their radio buzzed.

Once the two of them left the place, something was not right, they walked careful in the street but they were stopped midway. At the sight of group of Hunters gathering around them.

"Oh great." Chris whispered.

"I bet they think they have a chance." Jill's lips pursed upward while the sight of the MP5 lined up at the creature's direction.

The Hunters circled around and exposed their fangs. Chris shook his head and raised his Assault rifle and leveled it as Jill noticed several zombies homing in at them as well

"Targets to the left." Jill fired her weapon to signal Chris to do the same.

He walked forward as a Hunter lunged at him. He fired at it came in and side stepped it as the body rolled forward. From there, a zombie attempted to grab him but his left arm came around in a clean hook. The punch had so much force, the loose flesh couldn't hold the jaw together. Chris kept his pace onward. Jill noticed the damaged zombie and finished it off as she walked behind Chris.

Jill noticed a zombie that crawled at them. She shook her head and lowered her gun finished it off while a Hunter jumped to her side. The claws glided along the asphalt as she turned around with a flash grenade.

Chris kept his eyes forward as a white light shined in the area for a moment as he turned around. When it passed, the Hunter completely overshot Jill and ran into a nearby wall. It groaned to itself as Chris unloaded half of his magazine into the torso.

The Hunter leaned its head up and coughed blood onto the wall.

Jill nodded as she had a zombie try to get close to her. She kept her gun leveled but it _clicked_ empty on her. From there she dropped the gun as the strap caught it while she drew a M1911A1 handgun. With a solid black metal coloring and brown handle, she had the zombie get a new hole in its nasal cavity.

With the last one dead Chris and Jill breathed, their two partners started reloading their guns. "I think the military are the only ones that can stand against these things." Jill murmured.

"Seconded." Chris gritted his teeth the sight at the weapons.

"There is still hope for this place to be under a heavy quarantine, people might be able to return to their daily lives here." Jill didn't make the attempt on eye contact with her partner while voice was as clear when started at the sentence.

"I don't think anyone would want to live here knowing that a portion of people they knew were slaughtered." Chris sighed at the ruined street. "We never prevent the danger, we only deal with the aftermath."

Chris clenched his fist "Justice doesn't help the dead. Only for the ones who cause misery to know that they deserve what happens to them in the future."

Jill nodded. "We'll never stop chasing them."

The spent several minutes walking around the area to find any hidden creatures that could prove a threat later on. Nothing but the occasional zombie was found. The two covered each other's flanks with their ears toned for any kind of sound.

.

.

.

Hunk and Claire searched through the hallways for a way out, but it feel like a curse. In the middle of another corridor they were able to find a double door. Hunk knelt down a bit ready with his knife, while Claire watched their back. Hunk listened for a moment for any kind of sound, before he kicked the door open and went inside as Claire stayed along the wall to offer support.

The two found themselves in U-shaped room, Night Hawk was in the middle of the room on a small fold out chair with him using several zombies as a foot stool. "What took you so long?" He crossed his feet again. "I've been here for like ten minutes." He had a double barreled shotgun resting over his shoulder and nodded at the two when they entered the room.

Claire lowered her gun. "Wise ass." She pocketed her revolver. "Did you find a way out or what?"

Night Hawk crossed his arms. "We're out of time. The BSAA are clearing out the town."

"They're here? Awesome!" Claire smiled and had her tip toes lean up while the two soldiers stared at her. "Right… sorry." she said.

Hunk walked passed the two of them to take a look at the other side of the room, the wall was shaped like there is a path behind but it had been heavily boarded. It would be waste of time to try to break through.

'No, I won't allow them to win. Death cannot die.'

Night Hawk stepped around the corpses, explaining what he did during his time alone in this place. Outside, he noticed a small hunting pack roam around and killed off several human survivors that tried to loot a nearby electronic store. Night Hawk decided not to intervene since he had an educated guess that they would rather force him to be give up his equipment than offer assistance.

Something did come out of the torn apart bodies however. The leader carried a double barreled shotgun with two dozen shells in a satchel. The red soldier had a weapon and waited for them since. Hunk tapped the left side of his gasmask as Night Hawk did the same. Claire rolled her eyes as she crouched down, her back resting in a nearby shelve. When suddenly a sound came through the speakers that were connected to the room.

"I must say I'm impressed that all of you survived this far." A deep masculine voice called out.

"What?" Claire raised her revolver at the doorway.

Hunk bared his fangs in a stern tone under his mask. "I told you Nikolai, you better hope we never meet again you bastard, you never learn do you!?" Hunk shouted.

Claire listened carefully to the voice. 'Isn't Nikolai dead, I remember Jill wrote something in her report of Raccoon City… My god how did he survive?!'

Nikolai laughed loudly. "I love it when you're angry like this. But you two are in a quite predicament now. It was fun seeing you have troubles with that Kristen look alike girl."

"…Motherfucker…" Night Hawk whispered and turned to look at Claire

"I don't understand? Look alike...who?" Claire tightened her grip with the revolver.

"What do you mean? Am I part of your sick plan?" Night Hawk shouted back while Claire noticed Hunk stand completely still like a statue, unfazed by his surroundings.

"Oh Claire Redfield, you're such a fool. From the very moment I have seen your face. Just some wonderer that doesn't serve a purpose, but birds of the feather...flock together. Ever wondered why he scare you a lot but never have the heart to hurt you?"

"Shut up!" Hunk screamed, and he took the shotgun from Night Hawk. It's a voice she never heard before, full of rage. "Don't you ever mention _that_ name again." He fired at the speaker.

Nikolai laughed as the speaker sparked with the sound fading away. "It was nice working with the two of you, farewell." The outside had the moans and groans of an all too familiar enemy.

Hunk offered his shoulder for his brother's arm and jogged out of the room. Claire followed behind, though she heard the sound of creatures, lizards to be more specific, meaning they are in a serious trouble. Her every instinct within her said for her to run, to get away—but there was nowhere to go.

She looked at the ground as the two moved in front of her…

"Come on girl!" Night Hawk shouted at her to follow.

Claire gritted her teeth and ran before the zombies could reach her. Two hunters inspected the survivors and kept at a decent distance. The next room was small and it had cleaning supplies like it was used for normal place. "Over there! The launder shoot."

Hunk held his hands together and allowed his brother to jump first. Once Night Hawk was up he kept his leg for Hunk to helped him and climb up.

Claire shook her head sadly, thinking that's it, they'll leave her alone, and she'll die here. To be some snack for some fucking zombie!

"Hurry up Redfield!" Hunk shouted, to her surprise.

"Right!" She jogged forward into the palms of his hands to be lifted up to reach the shoot. Claire got half of her body onto the vent and looked down at the ground and offered and had to the mercenary. Hunk jumped up to grab Claire's hand as she pulled him up enough so his free hand can help pull his weight.

Claire nodded as Hunk went down the shoot to check on his brother before her. Several zombies clambered at the wall with their blood soaked fingertips. Once the shoot looked clear, Claire let gravity take care of the rest.

She landed into a pile of sweat perfumed sheets. She gagged at the smell as she crawled out of the pile to see a gloved hand offer support. It was Night Hawk who barely looked like he was able to stand, she made sure to apply the most of her weight on her knees so she would cause a problem for the red soldier.

Hunk dusted himself and worked over his mask which felt that a strap was loose. Night Hawk took a moment down in the ground, to check up on his wounds.

He groaned and held his ankle, ignoring the pain in his arm. "Not my lucky day."

Their radios buzzed "Can you hear me? Please respond."

"Just a signal from the town. Nothing new." Night Hawk leaned on his right leg as he walked.

It was a voice Claire knew all too well. "We are here to help." The radio continued.

"Keep your body straight, to allow your blood to continue circulating." Hunk said as he drew his combat knife then paced around to see if there was threat nearby. "Hey Redfield, watch the window."

"Since when do you order me?"

"Whatever."

"Hey, you guys. I'm going outside to get a look around."

"You mean recon?" Night Hawk grunted. "I knew you weren't as useless as you looked." He chuckled.

"Yeah screw you too." Claire rolled her eyes a she walked out of the room.

"I like her." Night Hawk smiled under his mask. Hunk shook his head as he took a moment to help the red soldier swap out his bandages. His gloved hands tightened on at the knee which had Night Hawk flinch.

Claire walked through a small hallway and looked outside of the house. Several zombies and such walked at the edge of the streets. The silhouette of a Hunter was in the distance and crawled along the roof. The Hunter did not express much interest in her direction. She peeked out and jogged across the street.

Claire kept her back close to wall so a creature couldn't get the jump on her. She sighed to herself as a pile of bodies had several zombies feast at the mound. She shook her head and as walked around a corner and had the black abyss of a handgun in her face.

"Claire?!"

"Chris?" Claire asked as the gun moved away from her view.

"Thank god!" Chris holstered his gun as he smiled then hugged his sister. "Where have you been all this time?"

"Just exploring. I wanted to see if others needed help in town." Claire looked over her shoulder by reflex. Once that happened, her brother hugged her. His armor had the magazines dig into her shoulders and abdomen but she didn't want to ruin the moment.

"Hey there Red." Jill smiled.

"Hey Jill. Fancy seeing you here." Claire nodded. "How's it going of the town? Don't tell me there will be another nuke?"

"No. It was reported in the early stages and the BSAA were able to mobilize before it got out of hand." Jill responded. Claire took a sigh of relief.

"I see." Claire smiled at the sight of people she knew, finally she felt happiness fills her troubled heart.

"Oh yeah, did you see any suspicious people in the town while you outside did you?" Jill asked as she kept her eyes at the nearby roofs in preparation against hunters.

Claire clenched her left fist as she shook her head. "No… I didn't…"

"Listen, there is an evacuation going on about two blocks back. Jill and I can escort you." Chris spoke in a tone that he was in a hurry.

"No." Claire said without hesitation… "I mean, I can take care of myself. I can walk myself there as you two work at your jobs."

Jill and Chris looked at each other. "What are you saying? It's too dangerous."

"Here you go again, being overbearing." Claire set her left hand on her hip.

"Overbearing? Listen here, I promised mom and dad I'd watch out for you!" Chris frowned.

"I can walk there myself. Listen, it's nothing against you Chris, but I saw some Hunters head deeper into the city. There could be other people that need help sooner and you escorting could put their lives at risk!" Claire waved her hands at the town around them.

"She's got a point."

"Jill, please." Chris rubbed his forehead.

"She's been through worse Chris. There could be someone injured that could use our help."

Chris looked at Jill and Clare then groaned to himself. "Get over there as soon as possible. Do you understand?!"

"Yes _Dad_." Claire frowned as she purposely bumped her shoulder against her brother's. In the moments since then, Claire was given a handgun before the two walked off to continue their sweep of the town. Claire sighed deeply as she stared at the direction they walked off in.

"What the hell are you going to do now Claire?" She asked herself. Across the street and down several blocks… was freedom. She closed her eyes and groaned to herself.

"I… made a deal…" Claire turned around and jogged across the street and turned at the corner.

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.

Above a figure revealed itself as it had a blue lensed eyes over with the gasmask. The hooded man has his rifle trained over the center of Claire's back. His index finger at the ready as she kept an eye out but not for a weapon to end her. He shook his head as he, pressed his left hand over his left side of his gas mask. He walked into the shadows as his suit faded from view and not even a shadow remained.

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.

Claire walked through the doorway as she had a sub machine gun pointed at the center of her face.

"Hold fire!" Hunk shouted. "She's with us."

"Copy that." The gun dropped as it revealed a black leather blonde woman in a gasmask stare at her from the doorway.

Claire leaned her head down. "Friend of yours?" As she asked that, Claire couldn't even hear herself over the thumping of her own heart.

"Yes." Hunk brushed past her with Night Hawk at his shoulder.

"No name?"

"What's it to you, girl." The woman walked forward to the point of almost challenging Claire…

"Well _sorry_." Claire shook her head.

"Do not speak that way." The woman shoved Claire forward.

"Hey!" Claire turned around and had the urge to draw her handgun.

"Knock it off you two!" Hunk snapped at them.

"Her codename is Bertha." Night Hawk decided to cut the middle man out.

"Well, nice to meet you Bertha." Claire did not sound sincere… at all which Bertha frown even more. "The pleasure is all… yours."

Claire rolled her eyes as she walked beside Hunk. "What's the plan now?"

"Time to get the hell out of dodge. That's what."

"Seriously girl. How stupid can you be?" Bertha shook her head."You get used to it." Hunk added.

Claire stopped for a moment as the group walked ahead of her.

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.

'… oh joy' Claire jogged to catch up.' it seems she is worse then him, god.'

"What do we do with her?"

Hunk looked at Bertha. "Bag her when we get to the extraction vehicle. We'll take her to the safe house. She's deserve that much."

"Yes sir." Bertha had plenty of ammunition to help the group escape the city.

"This is Vector. Come in?"

"I hear you."

"Hello sir. I've done recon over the area and cleared a path in several of the back alleys. I've marked them and it will guide you out. I'll be clearing out any threats that approach."

"Good work Vector." Hunk nodded.

Claire caught up. "Hey, lemme help." She took the other side of Night Hawk's shoulder to help divide his weight. Hunk nodded as she did the same in his direction.

'Saintly types annoy me…' Bertha thought to herself while the group made it out of the town.

 **Thank you for reading. So the nightmare is finally over, what do you think so far? more is coming.**

 **Special thanks to The95will for his help.**


	12. Chapter 11 A new day

**Chapter 11." A new day."**

You must be a sorceress 'cause you just did the impossible.

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"Alright spit it out, what's going on?" Vector asked while he walked alongside his comrade to in a small hallway.

"There is nothing to talk about." Hunk fanned his mouth with a prolonged yawn over the mouth piece of his gasmask. Doing so out of habit rather and knew how silly it was to do so. He opened the door to his room and halted Vector in his tracks. Hunk shook his head and closed it.

Hunk had his gloved hands unlatch the strap of his helmet and lightly tossed it on his fold out bunk. With the helmet off, about three more straps on the back his head rested on top of his balaclava mask. By muscle memory he removed the rest as the seal on his face loosened up and a brief rush of air kissed his skin. The masks on his head kept his hair flat and he just welcomed the cool breeze. He allowed himself to drop into a chair beside his bed and had his bandaged hand rested on his forehead.

He took long deep breathes while he stared at the ceiling. A smirk formed at his lips with a light scoff.

Funny how people think he is magically capable, it almost made him laugh of the rumors he hears about himself.

"They say he doesn't eat."

"It said mister death, is actually some kind of a demon created by umbrella."

"I heard he is a vampire. I heard he make sure the job is done no matter what, and he never tires at all, return home and never sleep."

At first he never knew he gained this kind of fame, but still, it was so damn silly that it's just funny.

Hunk's mind went on with such thoughts as he tugged over his under the collar of his uniform then pulled a diamond ring linked into silver chains.

It shined in the light. He moved his wrist a bit so it twirled for a bit and set it down on a small table across from the chair. Hunk rubbed his eye lids then sat upright in the chair.

Hunk pulled out his knife. At the sharpened end, he could see the crust of dried up crimson. 'For the Undead, it's still it's an act of mercy.' He put the blade back in its sheath.

'It's better to keep things as rumors.'

He glanced at the window. The dawn... a deep silence and absolute clarity of perception, his favorite hour of the day. The color in the sky, right there in the middle mentally he draw her face. He shock his head slightly and pushed the thought away.

"I'll kill you Nikolai, you just wait and see."

A soft knock thumped at his door.

"What is it?" Hunk shook his head.

Vector came in shortly, his weapons and gear rattled as he moved.

"Sir I need to tell you something..." Hunk frowned and waited for him to speak. "The girl, don't trust her. Back in the town I saw her talk to those BSAA agents. I request that we eliminate her."

An awkward expression painted Hunk's face, silently he signaled Vector to leave. Vector's bowed slightly and left the room with the door closed.

Hunk knew her. The sibling of Chris Redfield. Ever since the incident in the Arklay Mountains, Chris has been listed on the most dangerous on the caution list for all Umbrella Enforcers.

A part of him knew that something about her seemed familiar.

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.

.

 **Raccoon City, 1998.**

Hunk kept his back to the wall adjacent to a door and he gently pushed it open. No sound, no movement from the other side. He stepped inside the door and moved quickly through the dimly lit hallway. Observations fed him the facts. The spread moved as fast as projected, soon enough drastic action will be taken to contain it. Hunk remained alert of his environment as he walked across the room. Bodies stacked over each other at one end of the room

A lone body sat on an opposite wall. Blood caked the wall from the skull upward. Fragments of bones and teeth were scattered about on the hardwood floor. Hunk felt a tooth crack beneath his boot.

There he heard it, the sound of a girl struggling. He came closer to the stairs and there she was, a red head running up, her hands are moving uncontrollably over her head as she fought back at the crows that bothered her. Hunk lightly laughed at the sight. The girl waved at the birds in a feeble attempt to shoo the birds away. "This is war."

The girl mumbled to herself and a crow attempted to peck at her.

This… this is just… Why? They're _birds!_

Hunk aimed his gun downward and a loud bang followed, having a clean shot of one of them, the girl fell to her knees. The other crows screeched at him an abnormal sound from such animals, and they flow toward him angrily. He chuckled quietly and shot them out of the sky. The girl came close to the railing, watching the dead crows, her eyes searched around.

"That's weird...what was, who?" She whispered and then she continued in her path.

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.

Who knew they'll meet again, but this time they'll be partners. Life is a bitch, he knew that all too well. Such a reminder felt like a stab in the back, after everything they went through. Hunk returned to his bed, he fell face down and yawned. 'I didn't see Claire Redfield's name on that list…'

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Claire opened her eyes, she couldn't see much at first, but it felt like she was resting on grass. Slowly her vision adjusted, the sky was dark like in the middle of the night, no stars were in sight. She pulled herself to a sitting position putting her weight on both of her hands.

'Where...am I?'

The sounds of the children's carefree laughter filled the place. She was in a narrow strip of land covered with sand and pebbles. Or it could be a narrow strip of land at the edge of the sea exposed at low tide and covered by the sea.

Claire then saw twin boys run around happily, she couldn't see their faces, but they were brunettes, they threw sand at each other.

"How cute." She whispered at the sight of such a beautiful innocence. "Was it all a nightmare?"

With a gasp she woke up, and stayed like that for a few minutes. She tried to make sense of what happened last night, but everything in memory felt jumbled. Claire immediately looked at her surroundings. The room she was in had a drab and bare bones look to it. Everything looked worn out with decent looking bed and she was curled in a warm sheets. The room did not have a window as well.

Claire smiled to herself, finally the nightmare is over and she is safe. She stepped out of bed and went for the door. Before she walk out, voices can be heard in the other side.

"It's over, I don't want them anymore."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Totally. The two of them are on board."

Slowly she turned the handle and opened the door, revealing small living room.

"Well, look who's up?" A Caucasian man noticed her. Just from first glance, he was fit. Not to the point of being a meat head but enough for whatever he does for a living. He had a narrow nose and underneath it for his face, it had stubbles all over his chin. His eyebrows were kept well enough, so he practiced hygiene. His hair was longer than most men and Claire noticed a majority of it was combed to the side. His hair appeared looked to be a very dark brunette. He was in a black and red uniform, unlike anyone she saw last night. "Did you have a good sleep?"

'That's Night Hawk?!' Claire shouted in her mind.

"Yeah sure. Where am I?" Claire asked immediately.

"Relax, you're in a safe house." He nodded at something. "The bathroom is over there."

Still feeling confused, she went in and wash up. The water was cold, but not impossible to use. She even turned the other faucet and the water was still cold. She washed her face and her hands, removing some of the dirt she caught, but nothing will clean her cloths.

Once she walked out. "Well Redfield, this is where your deal ends. You'll have a ride to take you to your people." Night Hawk stated.

Claire sighed, and looked down at her hands. "Right thank god." She looked back at him and smiled. "I'll send a check to you like I promised, give me some time."

"You have one week to pay." He said and held a small paper for her to take. Claire nodded and took it. Night Hawk had a cup of coffee in hand and steamed with perfection.

"What?" He chuckled. "You think us mercenaries don't drink like normal people?"

A loud laugh escaped her lips. "Not at all." she said happily. Thinking that seriously she'll miss this guy.

He took another sip from his cup and winked at her, "This is the part where I state some generic feel good phrase. Sorry lady, not feeling it for today..."

Claire's eyes darted around the living room, she spotted the kitchen where an obvious steam was coming out of it. There was another closed door nearby, light was sneaking from beneath it.

"If you're looking for Hunk, forget it. He's sleeping." He announced.

Claire raised an eyebrow. "What, I won't even get a goodbye? Wow." She shrugged and walked passed him to the front door. Though she stopped midway and turned to look at him one last time.

"Well...goodbye." She whispered and went out, closing the door behind her.

A bright smile full of life graced her tired face as she went over to the car, once her hand touched the door. Two people rushed at her and took hold of her arms. One of them grabbed her tightly. "H…ey." Claire saw a fold go over her eyes.

Claire caught a glimpse of her attackers. One of them was Bertha, in normal people's clothing.

"Shut up, we'll take you back." Bertha said coldly.

 _Sllluuurrrpppp!_ Night Hawk moved the cup away from his lips. "Ah, damn good batch this turned out."

Claire did not resist as heavily as she would because she lead to car. She sat down with handcuffs on her wrists and had her arms behind her back. Not the most comfortable method to sit in a car.

Claire stayed there, listening to the car engine, recognizing the sound of dirt as they drove. It made her think they were not very far from the town. By the sound of the tires coming into contact with asphalt so soon.

Weird on how Hunk's safe house would be close by like this.

After 5 minutes of silence, she heard the car stop. The door opened and a strong arm pulled her out. Once the fold was removed, she found herself in a familiar sight. The two agents never said a word. Bertha removed the handcuffs and sat Claire down on a bench.

"Memory is good, ja? For the things it forgets. Do not make my employer regret this." Bertha shook her head as she walked away. Claire watched her walk away as there wasn't a car close by. By the time Claire looked forward to stand up, Bertha was already no longer in her view.

Claire pushed the thoughts away and she hurried on to the street, her heart hammering in her chest. Voices of people begin to fill the air with each second. Until the town of horror was once again filled with life, she saw people checking the damage with a police officer.

She was in the safe side.

A couple in the left were talking with a sad expression, looking down at the ground while another officer checked papers in his hands and whispered things to them. A group were doing some cleaning in the middle of the street, while a truck came around holding food.

"Claire!" She heard a shout among them. Her eyes searched for a second until she saw Annie break her way through the crowd.

"Oh my god, Annie!" She ran to her friend.

The friends caught each other in the most sincere and happy hug. "I was worried sick about you!" Annie cried.

"Please, I told you. A girl like me doesn't go down easily." Claire replied and pulled back to look at her, gently she wiped the tears from her face and wrapped her arm around hers.

"It's over, how about we talk about our next plan in our lives." She said, her voice fading in the crowd.

"Hell yeah, I was thinking about going to Washington."

"Let me guess, Chris' suggestion?"

"Yeah it's good to be near him, to be honest I'm paranoid now."

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A soft knock on the door made him pull himself into a sitting postilion, still yearning for more sleep. His body felt like that of an old man. "James... come on. Our job is not really done."

"Make it fast, moron." He grumbled... bored out of his mind. Night Hawk opened the door and throw a file over to him. Hunk caught on his hands easily and checked the first paper immediately.

"John Murphy is going to be there." Night Hawk said in a serious tone. The mention of the name alone had made Hunk feel his blood bombing on his veins, a wide menacing smile broke across his face. "Finally this old little bitch showed up," he said. "I knew it, I knew he'll crawl back to Nikolai."

Night Hawk crossed his arms and smiled. "Tell me about it, this will feel so good. Finally our own business, away from these jackasses."

 **Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this. Sorry for any disappointments, I did have troubles finishing this.**

 **Special thanks to my Beta-reader.**


	13. Chapter 12 The last Survivor

**Chapter 12. " The Last Survivor. "**

The train swayed and rocked as it traveled through the road. Hunk rummaged through the folders and files inside their private rail car, his briefcase on the floor at his feet. Paper shuffled with several grunts and low breathing was all the came out of the mercenary. He remembers things better when he discusses various topics … but in the past of him once placed sound mics to spy on a rival corporation for Umbrella. Hunk never let confidential information out of himself so easily. He acknowledged that he was being paranoid, but he is still a professional.

It had been a long day, and the gentle rocking of the train soothed him somewhat. The new objective now was to locate Nikolai Zinoviev. A captain among the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service, the silver haired and gas mask mercs crossed swords on numerous occasions, but that was out of competition between military branches. Now, it was a game of first blood … by bleeding out to death. Hunk closed another file that had no information, he closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Night Hawk informed Hunk of a dozen possible locations he need to investigate, still he was not sure why Wesker would help ? How did man even knew about the place he was in along with the Redfield girl ? He knew all too well, never fully trust Albert Wesker. Considering that Hunk himself was still useful and still able to extract Night Hawk. Something larger was at play here, Hunk just didn't know who really made the first move to start this game. Henry, it seems his usefulness expired.

Hunk breathed and looked at his wristwatch. '10 minutes. ' With each second, his annoyance transformed into frustration then to anger. Like a blinding fire.

He sighed and returned his attention to the file, settling back into his seat. He'd already reviewed the material several times, it was too hard to read these words. Make him remember what he used to be.

James.

The door of the car slide open and Night Hawk entered. There was a similar expression of frustration, it was evident enough that nothing of note was discovered. Still, Night Hawk took a seat in front of his brother. "I cannot believe we had to dig there again, to be honest with you I want to stay away. "

"You know as well as me that is not an option. " Hunk responded in the way Night Hawk expected.

" Still got to voice that thought. "

"Save it for when we have more info. " Hunk set his files down. "I looked into the records, nothing of real note. I know that Umbrella recently attempted to acquire research data from the company Horzine. It was a stalemate that just leave a dozen or so men dead. "

" Do we have to check on Horzine ? "

"No, there is absolutely nothing related to us with this skirmish. " Hunk leaned his head back and rubbed the nap of his neck. Hunk bend over a bit placing his arms on his knees. "Tell me, do you remember that day... ?"

T **he men across the room stared at the boy, just stared … no words need to be spoken. The boy could feel his pulse beating in his ears, blocking out all other sound except the breath that was raggedly moving in and out of his mouth at regular, gasping intervals. He found that he too was staring. He could not take his eyes away from the other eyes across the room. Nothing else mattered. The connection had to be held, if it broke... if it broke he would die. He had never felt so certain of anything else in his life. He could no longer control his hands ; they were shaking in an odd trembling rhythm as the color drained from his face. Yet still he stared, willing himself not to run, willing the connection to hold. The boy next to him held unto his arm tightly, frightened breaths left his lips.**

 **"Don't worry, I'll protect you. " He whispered to him.**

'It would have come to this … sooner or later. '

Night Hawk's lips pursed, his mind went back and forth of the memory... that day they arrived at the shores of Ashford Island. What killed him the most is the fact that he hide a certain information from his only family, it was something he wasn't sure how he could say it to Hunk.

The red merc made up his mind ; to keep the secret for now, until at least they dealt with the problems of now.

" Tell me, do you regret it? What we have become ? " Night Hawk inquired.

Hunk sighed and closed his eyes. "How can I regret the only life I ever knew ?"

Still he kept thinking of how he'll do that, he spent years loyal to Umbrella and now it felt something within was shattered.

The train started to slow down... "Ladies and gentleman welcome to Washington D.C. " The robotic intercom stated.

Night Hawk's fingers tightened around his bag, mentally preparing himself.

The moon had risen in a now cobalt colored sky, lording over a host of attendant stars. Its light fell on the forest, giving the grass a beautiful color. The low glow that made figures take shape in the forest.

Hunk stood in the middle of the path ; fully equipped and clothed. A helicopter hovered above him focusing the flashlight down. " 15 miles away, are you fit to walk ?" Hunk's radio buzzed.

Hunk brought his finger to his ear. " Just move it, I'll meet you there after an hour or so... I don't want pull you out of a crater again because something's in this forest. "

Hunk went through the forest hiding in the darkness, his mind went over everything he figured out so far.

There was a Spec Operations Team codenamed Echo Six, back in Raccoon City. Echo Six had the mission to look for survivors and later attempted to hinder Umbrella's operations. Their recon expect, Willow been killed down there with the virus he never heard of before called Abyss. Something out of the T virus research. The question is was, is T-Abyss real ? This group has went over orders and they're paying the price for it ?

Henry Martin, a man Hunk was supposed to meet and retrieve papers from by force. But he was already dead when Hunk got there. A trap for him from the start.

Then there is Nikolai's words ' You two are in a quite predicament now ' was weird, he knew Nikolai is not that stupid to make taunts. Normally that would mean he had the upper hand, it was rare when the two competed against one another.

An hour went by quickly, where Hunk barely felt it. A large manor came into view, no light can be seen from any window in the front. Hunk observed the place carefully for any sign of camera that could spot him.

It looked clean enough to him, he crouched and came closer to the door. Weapon drawn as Hunk touched the cold rusted handle, the door opened with creek, dust welcomed him in the darkness.

He activated the flash light strapped into his forehead and came inside, his footsteps echoed through the abandoned looking house. He saw a mirror and small table under it where there was ware out pictures. He took one rectangle frame and swiped a bit of the dirt. He could recognize the figure of a woman with a raven hair she wore a black dress. Her face was hidden by cracks on the glass. Next to her was a hidden man, nothing much he could take from that picture.

Hunk shrugged and placed it back in its place. He went over the living room. The worn out furniture there, he wasn't sure what is he looking for...something, anything that could help with what he seek.

He shed the light over the coffee table, multiple scratches were evident, and it was noisy like someone is trying to break it into pieces. He breathed and knelt down near the biggest sofa. He turned off the light and waited patiently, Hunk could have sworn he heard footsteps walk in above him, the sound of nails clicking against the wooden floor moving down to the stairs. No... not footsteps, to him it's either someone in all fours or an infected dog. Nothing would surprise him at this point, Nikolai could have prepared something for him here to play with. In mere seconds he saw a shadow move down the stairs, it was breathing with an unholy sound. It was a mix of Asthma wheezing sound and something else.

" ...Show...yourself... " A croaky voice spoke, it sounded female to him. Hunk activated his flashlight to get a clear view of what is that.

A woman leaned against a wall with a baseball bat in hand. A small wooden bat was in her other hand as she stared toward Hunk. She had a short pale blonde hair, and was the former Spec Ops communications officer Sienna Fowler resided. "You're Party Girl aren't you?"

The woman's face was sickly, dark patches were under her eyes. "Mister Death... " She sighed. "Never thought Umbrella would send their best lap dog for little old me. "

Hunk holstered his gun.

Sienna paced slowly to a couch and sighed in relief of the pain in her back. "Why are you here? I'm sure you don't feel sorry for me and my sickness. "

"Actually no, I'm in an investigation of a recent events... "

"So you came here for information?" She cut him off. Her bones made a sickly loud crack sound as she took another setting position, legs crossed. " Look, you are going to die wither you like or not. They will take what they want and then toss you away. "

Hunk shrugged in annoyance. "I don't care about that, what do you know about Willow's death or Henry Martin for that matter as well ? "

Sienna rebutted with a sly expression. "Look, Willow was just a teammate but nothing more than that if that is what you' re implying. She took care of the threats while I made sure my squad reminded in communication. As you can tell … I can't go out and collect data like I normally could. " Sienna adjusted herself a bit more comfortably. "Funny, a woman that used her looks to gather information … still has her looks but not have the means to actively use them … "

"Riveting. " Hunk responded in a deadpan tone. "We use what means we can for combat, there are tools suited for every job. "

"Yeah, I know how much fun it is to be tool. What happens the moment you're used up and tossed aside like garbage? There is a tool to build you back up to be used on the same level as some new and younger poor idealistic bastard ? "

"You failed yourself to be crippled this way. You are the reason that you're here now. I had nothing to do with it. " Hunk snapped back.

" You want my advice? Go in hiding, find a new life for yourself somewhere. " Sienna leaned forward. "Tools lose their edge, what happens when the same happens to you? "

Hunk's anger grew, he pulled her by the collar, bringing her close to his face. "I have a score to settle with these people, you can't prove anything just say it. "

"Mark my words. " Sienna chuckled. "Your pride is going to be the end of you. You want to know what's going huh? Think of it this way, you and I are soldiers in a chess game. "

Hunk was silent, his mind going over her words.

" We are used in a something bigger than ourselves. If the king is still around, all of those involved are acceptable losses. Even if that means losing the Queen piece in order to win, you better be damn sure if following that order is worth it. "

Hunk's grip loosened and she was able to break away from him, she fell face down in the couch and sighed. "None of this helps me. What do you know, just say it already!?" He broke the silence but with calm manner.

" You are John Murphy's child, seriously how clueless are you?" Sienna's voice sounded a bit muffled.

Hunk stared at her while Night Hawk listened in to the entire conversation through the radio.

Out of nowhere Sienna laughed, "You don't remember, " she pointed at him with her index finger. "Do you?"

His silence only conformed her suspicion.

Sienna stretched a little, in mere seconds her expression changed into sadness. "Will it's sure now Wesker children is not the only hard experiment. " Hunk couldn't take it anymore, he turned around and walked away...confused. Breathing in and out, a little exercise to stay calm. It's not like his usual self to lose it.

" I can tell you're not going to stop. That's good to know. My squad mate Tweed felt the same way after Raccoon City. " Sienna attempted to lean forward. "No one bothers to visit me. You're going to tie up a loosen end ? "

Hunk stared at Sienna as she calmly stared back at him … Hunk remembered what he came across in the documents on the train ride here. Echo Six and Sienna fought tooth and nail against the bioweapons used in Raccoon City. She provided support for her mission, it wasn't until the end when everything changed. An explosion when her team explored a lab had a piece of shrapnel strike and somewhat wedge itself on Sienna's calf. It ' s on the road of recovery but the military relieved her of taking part of any future operations. Ultimately, her time as a soldier ended in Raccoon City. All of that that happened, stacked with her current illnesses.

Hunk shook his head as he walked out of Sienna's home. With the relay of Hunk's equipment, Night Hawk had a program link wirelessly to Sienna's laptop and pulled up … nothing.

Not a god damn thing.

' So much for a satisfying trip, ' he thought.

" Night Hawk come in ?" Hunk brought his finger to his ear.

" Yeah... find something interesting ?"

"Party girl is there, she is though... insane, I'm not sure what happened to her. " Hunk replied. "She kept talking about tools, to find a new life and whatever. "

"Ah bummer, but I'm not surprised by what I heard, they went over orders after all. "

Hunk thought is about it all, hold dark secrets, loyalty. Her face still in his mind when she said you don't remember? What did he forget ? What secret is she talking about ?

All of this mess started when he made the idiotic decision to take the job to that town, then again he might have to be there because of the red pilot imprisoned... Night Hawk ?

"Hey, you didn't tell me what happened to you ? How did you end up down in the lab. I find it hard to believe what I read about your arrest. " He spoke through the radio.

" Just come back and we'll talk. "

Hunk sprinted through the dark forest, adrenaline rushed through him, giving the much needed boost until he saw the helicopter's lights in a clearing, and a ladder ready for him. Hunk looked back at the forest one last time, thinking of how a well prominent member, up like that ? Then in a hurry he climbed up and closed the door.

" Start talking. " he said coldly.

Night Hawk settled his headsets and breathed. "I know that tone. " his voice was high pitched, considering the loud noise of the router blades.

He checked the machine and started flying through the dark moonless night. "Look I might know something. When I was too tired to fight back I heard... words. "

"Go on. "

"Who else we knew of ? This is family. The red head girl where is she ? Kristen died years ago. Inheritance...secrets, recruits. That's all. "

 **Thank you for reading. More is coming.**

 **Special thanks to my beta reader The95will.**


	14. Chapter 13 Truth

**Chapter 13. "Truth."**

A room that had mostly closed curtains and the windows had the light glow of the moon's rays enter the room. At the desk, Albert Wesker leaned forward. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and exhaled some frustration.

"So he did not end up as a total failure and died like expected?" Wesker's voice on the phone was hard, brittle. "I wondered if it might be. He pulled the trigger on them, who pulled the trigger on Hunk, who pulled the trigger on Nikolai-who wanted to pull it on me?"

Excella rubbed her forehead, confused. "Is this a cat and mouse game?" She stood in the same room but just finished looking over the paperwork to an unrelated corporate matter. She could hear the murmur of voices, a girl talking in the next room. "...the attack. If Wesker's right about that..."

"It fits in with what we know. It's the last piece of the puzzle, Albert. We have to assume it's true." Excella finally returned to where her partner is, there she saw a woman in red and a short raven hair at the door out, talking.

The two had stopped talking after they saw her. "Go now, don't you dare fail us."

The woman rolled her eyes."I never fail, trust me." she said and closed the door.

"Are you going to explain to me what happened exactly in that town?" Excella clarified and brought an armchair close to him, where she took a seat. "I find it hard to believe that you didn't take part on it."

Wesker's eyes shined under the dark shades. "Let's just say, we have the T-Abyss in our possession now."

"What!?" Excella shot up from the armchair. The moonlight slighting glinted off her lightly added makeup.

"You're going to have to go to a guy I know at the police Department. He'll see you. There's an office right here in Chicago. He'll take you to the rendezvous point." Wesker did not waste time to explain himself. Nor did he feel like expending the brain power.

Excella held unto her chin, her expression speak loudly of understanding. "You planned for Henry to die didn't you?"

"You believe that?" Wesker lowered his chin for his shades to droop lower so his eyes could glance at Excella while he crossed his legs.

"Sure, it will actually make a lot of sense if you did, after all you're trying to surpass the older generations, the failed ones anyway. Sergei stands on your way, plus Nikolai went rouge when he was with the UBCS. Nikolai could have been under Sergei's orders. And this is pretty much what these Purity guys are." She retorted with a smirk. "We're one step ahead in this game."

Wesker's smile never vanished as he opened a drawer and took out a piece of paper. "John Murphy's inheritance will be mine. The success of this mission is one step ahead. Sergei's men planned to hit me right where it hurts, they wanted to get Murphy's children and destroy all the data they saved there. Though Henry was able to unleash the hunters down where they work and get to me what I wanted before he died, though this escalated to a T-Abyss Virus outbreak, where no one survived. I would love to see Sergei's face when his operation completely and utterly… failed."

Excella touched his shoulders and brought herself closer. "You fox, that's why you sent help after Hunk and his brother? You wanted them for yourself."

"You are astonishingly perceptive, Miss Gionne." He replied and pushed her chair away from him. Though his tone never changed, she enjoyed his method of 'playful' mannerisms.

The phone rang loud enough to bother her ears. Wesker laughed maniacally when he saw the number. With a click the small screen revealed a middle aged brunette man, there was touches of grey mixing in along his sideburns. Narrowed eyebrows with eyes full of anger. "What'd you think you're doing!?" He shouted. "You're working for me got it, end this game now!"

"Since when did I ever tell you, that I was a servant?" Wesker chuckled, which only infuriated the man on the other end even more.

Murphy bared his teeth. "I should've known that you will turn your back on me."

"Hindsight is always 20/20, why would I trust someone who murdered his own wife and sold his children to the company?"

Murphy scoffed. "You're not a Saint either Albert, these words won't work on me."

Wesker placed the nib of his right index finger on his chin. "May I witness your murder? Your children will be slaughtered soon I'm sure, I recommend you don't stand in my way any furtherer."

"That's not going to happen, you will pay for this!" Murphy hung up.

Wesker pulled the phone away from his view. He snickered at on his victory.

"Huh, what a punk." Excella added.

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.

.

A man came in through the front yard, as Jill opened the door and singled him to enter."Welcome doc."

A man had a thin face framed by a spill of almost pure white hair, looking like a dandyish but down-at-the-heel doctor in his long white coat and brown boots, the ruff of a shirt spilling over his collar. He carried a doctor's bag that he placed to the ground and kept his eyes forward. The red head as he took something from it, something long and curved. Then smiled and showed the needle filled of a pink liquid, and it gleamed wickedly in the light.

The moment Claire feared so much, who would have thought that fear of needles can grow with them.

Fear nibbled at her insides.

"Alright Miss Redfield, relax it won't hurt." Whispered the doctor as he used the needle on her left shoulder.

Once the doctor finished, Claire laid in bed in her new home. It was a one story house with two bedrooms, one guest room and a contemporary living room. It had dark grey and white walls along with a decorative ceiling light that created a beautiful sight between the kitchen and the living room. However, the windows didn't have much of anything of interest to look at. The back window for the kitchen only stared into the outer wall and fence of the house next door. Not to mention in the front lawn was an overgrown rose bush that needed to be trimmed, which Claire will get around to doing… next year.

The house would have been difficult but Chris helped Claire and Annie in their attempt start over.

Claire stared into the popcorn ceiling. It was the kind that looked to be more grovel and made a crooked shadow smile from where her lamp was placed. On the other side of the room, the doctor was in the middle of putting his utensils away. Without the need to knock, Chris entered her new bedroom and she saw him enter by using her peripheral vision.

"I swear I'll pay you back Chris." Claire didn't break away from the ceiling.

"You don't have to do that, I'm happy to help." Chris put his hands in his jean pockets while he walked to the bed. He wore a grey short sleeve shirt and sat on the edge of the bed. He gave a light smile but faded quickly on the blank expression Claire had.

"No, I don't like anyone doing favors for me. I will get a new job and pay you back."

Chris grinned and played with her hair a bit. "Stubborn Claire-bear…"

Claire cringed as she sensed the needle on her skin, the hot medicine going through her system. Though in spite of the pain, she felt her knotted muscles feel much better than before. Her annoyance of the feeling had her barely notice Chris' attempt of comfort.

The doctor placed a roll of bandages on the night stand next to her. "Here you go Miss Redfield, since I cleaned your wounds, soon enough you won't need bandages."

"Thank you mister Graham, it's weird how you didn't change much in my eyes." She said happily.

"Yeah, I'm happy to see you again. Remember the lollipops?" He pretended to reach into the part of his bag which carried sweets.

"You don't have some right now do you?" She laughed. The doctor shrugged cheerfully and closed his bag. With a nod the doctor left the bedroom, Chris looked over his shoulder and remembered there was a box to bring in the house. He tapped Claire's shoulder and left her room after the doctor.

Claire laid back with a smile, welcome a new life in a new home.

Still though, a certain masked man didn't leave her mind, so much mystery surround him that she for some reason desired to crack. Who would have imagined The infamous mister death...will invade her thoughts like this.

… The smug asshole…

Claire covered her face, sighed and thought to herself. 'Enough, he is gone. Forget about him dammit.'

A knock on the door interrupted her train of thoughts. "How do you feel darling?" Annie came in, she wore a white pajama and her hair seemed wet.

"Hey you, finished packing already?" She asked without moving from her position.

"Not really, only my clothes. For now." Annie answered and sat on the bed next to her. "What happened to you? You seems different."

Claire chuckled softly. "Don't worry about me I'm fine. I'm troubled of how are going to live here ya know?... No jobs."

"I'm going tomorrow morning to a restaurant, maybe I can be a waitress at somewhere nice. You wanna come with me?" Annie commented while giving Claire a supportive tap to her shoulder.

"I guess. God I have no goal, I'm so lost I'm about to cry. I always feared change out of nowhere."

Annie bend over a bit and rubbed her hand. "How about you work with me for now, until you decide your future job is going to be. We need all the money we can get."

"Yes, you're right. I owe Chris." She shrugged.

.

.

.

The doctor, paced back and forth, looking at his cellphone and waiting.

Chris and Jill were in the kitchen talking. "So Claire described a middle aged man vividly I'm impressed, her description fits with what's on file." Jill placed a photo on the counter.

"Colonel Sergei Vladimir, a high ranking executive of the Umbrella Corporation, highly recognized as the company's Captain of the Guard, and Oswell E. Spencer's most loyal officer." Chris said with crossed arms. "What is he planning?"

Jill sighed heavily, her elbows resting on the counter. "Isn't strange, we have a plan to chase him in Russia and his name came out before that in another outbreak?"

The doctor walked in and waved goodbye. "Have a nice day Mister Redfield."

"Thank you doctor." Chris replied. Once the front door closed, Chris returned to his partner. "I don't know why I have a feeling Claire is hiding something from me! Something she had seen in that town."

"Why would you think that?" Jill asked.

"It's her eyes, she has 4 eyes I know. There is those eyes when something got her interest good. Which is what I saw from her in our reunion."

Jill rolled her eyes. "Oh god, you worry too much. Don't you know how to relax and be thankful she survived?"

"Shut up Valentine, no siblings therefore no opinion" He teased.

"I hate you, clueless idiot." Jill replied happily. A game she enjoyed to do with him, they do end up laughing and feeling much better after the ugly missions they go through.

 **Thank you for reading. I hope you liked this.**

 **Special thanks to my betareader The95will.**


	15. Chapter 14 The only life we ever knew

**Chapter 14. "The Only Life We Ever Knew."**

The Angel Winds. That's what Hunk called the wind that came slashing down Washington streets, this time of year.

The wind got cold and bitter wind when the sun went down. When it came to laying low, there was the option to walk around in plain sight did have its merits. Or… that was what Night Hawk would tell him on a daily basis. For Hunk's case, he'd rather go to the mountains or the mid-west plains, there is a safe house that he set up to use. It wasn't up for him though...

Hunk and Night Hawk had gone into the seediest bar they could find with it offering Wi-Fi. It was needed to plan for their future operations.

The bar door felt sturdy as Night Hawk pulled it back as the light entered. Night Hawk entered first and Hunk followed closely behind. The bar had darkened grey walls. On their immediate left, there was some framed photos on the wall. Sure the place could use a little work. The stools were of a darkened and faded red, the fake leather finished had several cuts and holes in them. The door hinges needed to be oiled with the chipping of the paint off of the door itself. However, but it felt homey in some strange way.

The door opened to reveal the sunlight behind the two mercenaries. Night Hawk noticed a seat in the far left side that was isolated well enough from the rest of the patrons. He tapped Hunk's shoulder and the two made their way to the table. The bartender looked up and glanced at his co-worker to get their drinks.

Hunk sat on the opposite side with a shoulder bag on his shoulder. He immediately opened the bag and pulled out a laptop. He started to search through data.

On the other side of the bar, was a jukebox. It started to play the song 'Fly Me to the Moon.'

Hunk listened to the song in a distant way, as he tooled through the web for a way to find a certain son of a bitch. Hunk sat with his back to a wall. He started to search through old articles from Raccoon City. A website only he had the access to thanks to old allies. Night Hawk glanced at the door to keep an eye out in case of a potential threat.

A blonde woman took a small note pad and walked to the table of the two Mercs. Her skin was of a slight tan with shoulder length brunette hair. Her clothing curved with her build and she stood before the table and leaned on her right leg before she took the Mercs' drinks. She wore a Flowy top over her jeans, the shirt only helped project the shape of her breasts. She prepped her notepad and looked at Hunk first.

"What you up for?" Night Hawk didn't break his attention from the waitress. "The usual?"

Hunk remembered certain keyword phrases as he typed it in for a search engine. "The usual."

"So, you here on business?" The waitress asked in Hunk's direction.

"Well yes. My associate and I are on our way to see a potential investor."

"Interesting." The waitress replied. While Night Hawk told her the drinks they wanted and as she told them the Wi-Fi password, he glanced at her name tag. Hanna, was her name. It wasn't like he would not at least check out her… assets.

…Five minutes later...

Hunk sipped a cup of Charles Shaw when Hanna returned. Night Hawk got whiskey.

When Hanna gave them their drinks, she spent a moment to play with her hair seductively. A smirk painted Night Hawk's face as he pushed the chair closer to her. "Hey baby, was that an earthquake or did you just rock my world?"

Hanna stared at him from the side. "No thanks, I'm not into betas." Her eyes caught the sight of Hunk on the computer as Night Hawk rolled his eyes. She did a little fix to her hair.

"Hey there…" She whispered. "Are you a trampoline because I want to bounce all over you?" Her eyes focused on him and trailed down. "You've got a lawyers ass! Yup its firm."

Night Hawk bared his teeth as he watched the scene in utter disbelieve.

Hunk did not break his concentration away from the laptop. "Sorry lady, I don' have experience with dancers or lawyers." He replied causally. Hanna showed the most painful face-palm anyone can do. She shrugged and walked back to the bar.

"James, I'm not sure if you're dumb or pretending to be dumb." Night Hawk said maliciously and crossed his arms. "I'm beginning to think I have a rotten luck with women."

"Give it a rest already. Check this out?" Hunk tapped on Night Hawk's shoulder

There on the screen was a picture of a John Murphy in a blue Italian suit, posing next to a shiny sensor emblem that was the sign of umbrella, the new corporation in the time. "What does this mean exactly? A picture doesn't prove much."

Hunk took a breath, his head resting on his hand. "I think this is what Party Girl learned from her research. Notice how his name almost always around whenever Oswell E. Spencer is involved?"

"And your point is?" Night Hawk asked, though his eyes widened in seconds... "No way!"

That was the moment Hunk felt out of words, not sure if he should feel angry or sad or shocked beyond belief. He almost laughed at the turn of events and perhaps he should enjoy some ego boost of the power they just gained.

"We're the children of Mr. Murphy here," Night Hawk tried to smile but did not want to lose his composure. "That's another reason to have many target us."

Hunk's eyes caught a name written down in another page, 'Judith Bratt.' With that he turned it off and closed the laptop.

Night Hawk clenched his fist. "That sleazy son of a bitch," he whispered. "Still, I won't call this a stable plan going on here."

"I still don't get it, what would Nikolai gain?" Hunk replied.

"I think we need to visit daddy, perhaps prepare for an early Christmas dinner or something." Night Hawk said in a sly manner and checked his watch. "We better get up, remember our date?"

"Yeah."

Hunk and Night Hawk pulled out their wallets and paid for their drinks at the counter as they walked out. They walked out of the bar and checked the half empty street, their rendezvous should be close by.

Both walked on opposite angles of the street and at the same pace. Eventually, they took a turn to the left and walked through the street in silence. After 5 minute walk, there it stood, long dark and menacing ally.

It was just a gap between two old terraced houses built many years ago but it was cold and uninviting. It was like a cavernous moth waited to gobble up anyone who dared enter it. They couldn't see the far end as it had been blocked off by a large heavy oak gate many years ago to stop the thieves and misfits of the area cutting through to the wastes that lay beyond the rear of the houses. These old boarded up houses. Night Hawk watched ahead of them, while Hunk watched their flanks and elevations above them.

There was a story about someone being attacked and murdered in the ally for the pittance in their pocket but no one knew for sure as it happened many years ago. Down the alley, a set of lights came into view and immediately switched off as it turned into the alley. The two saw a blue van drive about halfway between them. Night Hawk kept his eyes on the driver's seat as Hunk approached the van. A man in a grey hood his face hidden in the dark.

"Don't take highway 19, a couple of jackasses collided their cars. One of them even got themselves T-Boned." The man had a high pitched voice when he leaned his head out of the driver's window. Hunk raised his hands to express that he did not plan to become a threat. The driver nodded as he turned the engine off.

"I see two men, at the mouth of the alley. Hostile?" Night Hawk asked in a hush tone.

"Probably paid bodyguards."

"Let's not make this harder than we need to." Night Hawk suggested.

"Agreed." Hunk and Night Hawk saw the side van door roll open as the driver stepped out.

When the two came closer, there they saw a large set of guns and ammunition neatly arranged on the walls. The same with ammunition set along the floor of the van. "Chose what you like, I have a good price on them all."

The first thing that Night Hawk saw was a Nine-Oh-Nine handgun that hung off the far side. He pointed at it for the Arms Dealer to hand it off to Merc. Before the weapon was passed off to him.

"Is the chamber cleared?" Night Hawk asked.

 _CLICK_. The handgun kicked out the yellow brass of a 9mm bullet for the Arms Dealer to catch.

"Huh." The Arms Dealer shrugged as he passed it off.

Night Hawk aimed it toward the asphalt and attempted to get a good feel for the weapon. He tested the grip and ejected an empty magazine the immediate slid it back in to see if could enter with ease. The gun above all else. Felt… clean. He noticed another weapon as he swapped with the Arms Dealer for another handgun to inspect.

Hunk nodded in the back when he spotted a weapon that could assist them. The Arms Dealer looked over his shoulder and smirked at Hunk. He walked back into the van and came out with a NeoStead 2000 Double Barreled shotgun.

"A bit on the heavy side." The Arms Dealer said as Hunk inspected the weapon.

"Indeed." Hunk replied. He looked down the sight to the ground and noticed it was slight off angle but still an easy fix. He popped the barrels down and look through the barrels. Straight and great for potential engagements. Hunk smirked to himself as he thought of the possibility to blow apart some annoying Hunters or worm monsters.

Night Hawk nodded as he looked up and saw something some small time weapons that could come in handy later on. He got an Uzi sub machine gun and as he held it he grimaced to himself. "Got anything with range?"

"Judging from your friend. I take it that you two need some firepower in small packages." The Arms Dealer nodded to Hunk, whom was borderline cuddling the double barrel shotgun.

Night Hawk looked back to the Arms Dealer. "You could say that."

"Well I think I have something." The Arms Dealer turned to his side and took out a weapons case and opened it. He checked the chamber and revealed it to Night Hawk.

It was an Assault Rifle, the SteyrAUG A3. The mount on top was naked but the railing was there in case a mod were to be added. The same with a horizontal grip underneath the gun to offer better stability. Night Hawk smiled as he took hold of the weapon. It was a bit heavier than what he was used to. It even came with a flash light that could come in handy with any BOW than human targets.

"I like it." Night Hawk nodded. "I get this one, can you set it aside while I browse?"

The Arms Dealer nodded as he set the weapon back in the case.

Hunk looked up and noticed that there was a need to put some serious fire rate in certain situations. He noticed on the upper wall of the van was an H&K MP7 sub machine gun. Good firepower and doesn't weigh as much. So Hunk liked it already and added to his pile to purchase.

In the pile, of the handguns that Night Hawk inspected. He wasn't feeling it but he decided to go for the Nine Oh Nine handgun. He needed something new.

"So are these being purchased separately or together?"

"If you two buy this Dragunov I can't get rid of. I'll throw in a Glock 17 with a case of hollow points, a case Dragon's Breath shogun shells and two magazines worth of AP rounds for the AUG." The Arms Dealer smirked.

Hunk and Night Hawk looked at each other.

"Deal." Hunk responded as the weapons and ammunition were all calculated in cost and the two. There was even a duffle bag included in the deal so it would make the guns and ammo easier to transport.

"If you two need more hardware, don't be strangers." The Arms Dealer waved at the two Mercs as they walked out of the alleyway.

"For sure." Night Hawk replied. "I parked the car in a garage nearby."

"So now that we got some bite. Let's go practice our bite." Hunk nodded to the thought of figuring out what the hell do they play in this blood ridden chess game.

.

.

.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Starling, just report."

"Is this line secure?"

"Yes, yes," John said impatiently. He was in his penthouse apartment, now, in his bathrobe, and smoked a cigar while he looked out at the lights coming on as street lights were like a rainbow. He tried to focus on the cigar and not think about Wesker's part in all of this. He needed to keep his head clear and act carefully.

"Wait-why are you asking me that? This is your goddamn system! You tell me if it's secure!" John sneered. "I paid you a great deal to make my place safe."

"Sir yes sir, I just meant-" Sterling spoke nervously.

"Never mind what you meant! Just tell me did you send words to Sergei? What of the children?" John asked.

"We're sure of three of them, sir, they left for Russia safely. Though our loss is...big, data are wrecked, and O'Hara, and Morrison are dead."

"And my children?"

"Sir, we haven't got a definite report on them, sir. Last place we've known is they went to visit a former Spec Ops member code name Party Girl, sir. But we cannot locate them after that. We had a squad question her, she has no idea and nothing of what they have planned. We left her alone."

Starling was really getting on his nerves but he let it go. "Don't make excuses, Starling find James and Mike I want them dead!"

The young man did the military greet and continued. "Sir, yes sir. I have discovered that there was a data stolen in the area before the purge. I suspect it's something had to do with their plan..."

"Nikolai's?"

"I think so. Sadly there is no survivor from that place. No one to tell us what happened down there..."

"Dammit! He could have it and move a step ahead of us! Wait-what about surveillance camera in the area down in that section where they went?"

"Checked it with Nikolai. Cameras were blotted out in the area, we only able to see a small footage of Hunk with some redhead girl looking over the T-Abyss. I'm not sure if it's a fail in the system or someone else was playing here. The last footage we were able to take were for Hunk, Night Hawk and that girl were able to get out of place."

John turned from the window, walked to his desk and stubbed out the cigar in a glass ashtray. "Who was that girl?"

Starling was hesitant a bit, trying to remember what Nikolai said. "I heard that she has the likeness of Kristen, another member of the group Human Unit Never Killed project."

There was a strange glistering in John's eyes, a look Starling knew all too well. 'Oh boy, this isn't good.' He thought to himself. His worries were interrupted. The doorman was ringing from downstairs. John went to the door and touched the intercom button. "Yeah?"

A nasal voice on the intercom said, "Mr. Murphy, I have Miss Wong here to see you? Miss Ada Wong?"

Ada? Or Lucky Quinn or whatever her name is. Why is this witch here? She always plays both sides. She might be the new head of the club, going against him in the most disgusting way, but still she wasn't dumb enough and she couldn't just bust in here anytime she wanted. Still, John was curious about the out of nowhere visit-and he doubted Wong was here to do him harm. She would never come in person to do that. "Okay, send her up."

He looked back to his phone. "Keep up the search Sterling. Give me an update when you find something."

"Yes sir." Sterling replied before the two hung up.

He opened his door and stuck his head out. His bodyguards were gawping at some video on a cell phone. "You two!" John called, making them jump. "Stop pulling your puds and get in here! I've got a couple of uglies from the Asian mob coming up here! Call Mark in here-he can watch the door."

"Sure, boss, we were just-" John left the door and went to make himself a drink at the little glass bar across from his desk. The men came in, a young, redhead, mercenary, and a tall blonde muscling partner. They had their Mac 10 weapons with the straps over their shoulders. "You two, leave the door ajar, get over here, and stand on either side of the bar. Keep your weapons in your hands, safeties off, but keep them pointed at the floor." He said and took a seat on the couch, legs crossed.

A minute went by when the woman finally came through the door. She wore a black business suit.

"Mister Murphy, so nice of you to allow me in." Ada smugly stated as he just smirked at her. He thought of how she didn't change much after all this time.

"Come on in, take a seat." He casually responded.

Ada nodded and moved in a seductive manners, before she took a seat on the couch in the opposite side of him.

"So what do you want Wong? Our friendship ended years ago." John said without the urge to insult dogs at the end of the sentence.

Ada smirked. "You know me Murphy. For the sake of our friendship I'm willing to offer my services... I could help you take down Wesker, and you can continue working on the T-Abyss."

John shook his head and looked down at the ground. "What made you think I'll accept your offer?"

"Because I have someone with a good position who will be helping you." Ada uttered. "Morgan Lansdale." At the mention of the name, John was taking aback that he wasn't able to speak at first.

Morgan, former Chief Sectary of Foreign Affairs for a president back in 1988. Now the leader of The Federal Bioterrorism Commission. Something that could be seen as a step down for what the man had accomplished so far. "Why him?"

"See?" Ada chuckled. "I know you will be interested to listen to what I want to say. I have a plan, and it's up to you to take it or leave it."

...

The weather was extremely cold. One morning, at least to her or maybe she is coming down with fever. She got up at the afternoon, not her usual self, she changed her clothes to something comfortable. A black and pink jacket with zipped pockets and a hoodie along with black heavy pants. She chose to go out for a stroll, before Annie woke up. She didn't rest much because of her morning walk to find a job.

The house was… silent.

Claire opened the door and breathed deeply, welcoming the fresh air.

As she stepped out of the house, she began to shiver with cold. It was piercing underneath all the layers. Her hands and feet were numbed with cold. She looked to her right and saw a car pull out and make the turn off to her street.

Claire just wanted to get out of the house. So she walked along the driveway and to the sidewalk. It was still a bit late in the afternoon but still. She looked to her right to see a green house with white outlines on the edges. The windows were closed and the same was done for the rest of it as well. A bit recluse but who was she to judge.

She gave a drawn back half smile when she recalled the occasions when people rudely asked her about Raccoon City.

Just on that alone. Claire immediately looked up to the clouds on the memory of a little girl she knew… Sherry?

'I better give her a call some time.' Claire nodded to herself.

The walk itself was only about ten minutes long to go around the block. When she returned to her side of the block. She noticed there was a car in the drive way. Just on the color, she knew not to be alarmed. The driver's seat door opened up to reveal her brother.

"Hey Claire. I hope I'm not in a bad time." He waved.

"Hey Chris, nah. Just went for a walk, come on in please. Annie isn't awake yet."

"Actually I'm up," Annie called from the front door. "I woke up at the sound of you moving around, give me a minute."

Claire shrugged while Annie walk back up to the bathroom with a smile. She placed her hands on her hips and walked toward Chris' car.

"How's Jill doing?"

"She took the day off, for herself." He replied and returned to his seat. Keys were in the ignition. "Well I thought I'd drop by and see if we could do something together."

"I see." She winked at him. "So where are you taking us?"

Chris titled his head slightly and smiled. "I'm taking you to a nice restaurant. It had the best chicken wings and soups, I go there a lot."

Claire rolled her eyes. "How about we actually go somewhere nice, a French restaurant close by. Last night we ordered a dinner and it was the best I had in a while."

Chris frowned, thinking how this moment is a serious Deja-vu. "Why can't you just enjoy the moment and come with me to my favorite place. You won't regret it I promise."

"Chris stop trying to order me around, since you're wanting to take me somewhere nice, what's wrong with choosing a place I like?"

They heard the front door close, Annie run toward them. She wore a casual beanie unisex skullies winter dark grey hat, a white jacket and pink shirt underneath it along with blue pants. She opened the door to the back seat and went in.

"Thanks for waiting. It's nice of you to do this t..." she stopped talking once she saw the look in their faces.

"God this feels like eighth grade all over again, why are you doing this to me?" Claire blurted as she walked back the house to get her wallet.

"The question is, why are you behaving like this every-time I try to be nice with you?" Chris shouted the last words and started the engine of the car.

"That's not been nice, this is ordering me around." she fired back. "I'm not going to that restaurant." Claire shouted as she walked through the main living room.

Annie leaned up from the back seat. "What's going on here, can't chose a place? How about we go to an Italian restaurant, I can show you the way."

"She'll see soon enough." Chris gave a half-hearted smile. A minute later, Claire walked out of the house and locked the door. She got in the passenger seat and the car pulled out.

Chris drove through the street and took a turn to the left. The sibling exchanged looks for a moment.

"Fine by me, I like Italian food." Chris said.

"Sure." Claire replied.

Annie sighed in relief." It is in the middle of a mall, I want to go there to look for a job."

"You're not coming with us?" Chris asked looking back at her.

Annie smiled back at him, such a sweet guy she had grown to admire. "Nah, you guys need your time. I'll meet you after an hour in the front.

.

.

.

The restaurant is situated in a large shopping mall it was almost 40 minutes away from their home. The group had bouts of small talk of themselves. Chris spoke of how there is some guy named Clive O'Brian that's been asking for him. Annie thought that maybe it could be time to get some pictures for the house, like Ansel Adams. Claire thought that it could be time to get a new toolbox. She hasn't taken apart a car engine in a while.

The restaurant is on the 18th floor and offers a nice open sky view.

The waitress led them inside to a table in the middle row. Chris moved the chair allowing her to set. Claire remembered something, this moment was like years ago with their parents. The two of them will run to the table before the mother and pick a chair near the window.

"Mine." She would shout.

"That is not fair Claire." He would frown on his seat in the middle.

Chris took a seat and spoke his order. "I want 2 Caprese Salad with Pesto Sauce. 1 Pasta Carbonara Claire?" He said and give her the menu.

Claire stared at the menu for a moment, many of them she didn't like much. "I want Lemon Basil Spaghetti thanks."

"You got it." The waitress finished writing and went for another table.

Chris and Claire stared at each other. Their eyes says so many things but it seems none of them had the courage to talk. "Chris did you ever wonder, if we were ever wrong with a certain morals, how our lives turned out to be?"

Chris sighed. "What can I say? It comes with the lifestyle, to be prepared for those who can't do things for themselves. Someone has to show the world what's right." He paused and closed his eyes, trying to push the image away. "Ever since our parents died..."

"You don't realize it do you?" Claire whispered, she prevented herself to let out any tears. "You have ignored me, all you showed me is do this and do that. Sometimes, you need to just back off..." she stopped mid-sentence after she saw Chris's face. In years, she never seen Chris Redfield the holder of the family like that.

"I've been there for us ever since what happened. What else am I supposed to do if you fail or something happens?" he allowed tears to seep down his cheeks. "Mom always knew how to make us feel stronger."

"Chris, I never asked you to be mom and dad for me."

Chris held his hand stopping her. "Then who would be if I didn't? Who is going to make things better? Who is going to take care of us?"

That was the moment Claire felt like the biggest bitch in the earth. She never imagined Chris was hiding all of this inside. "I'm so sorry." She said reaching for his hand across the table. "You shouldn't have hide this from me Chris, we need each other to survive in this life. Do you know I was thinking of you the whole time I was trapped in the middle of that outbreak, I know how heartbroken you will be if..."

"Just stop. I'll be there for us until you prove me otherwise." Chris retorted as stared back at her.

Claire grimaced to herself. 'I don't need a parent. I need a brother.' She looked away as she recalled all the times of when Chris was intrusive on her life. Doesn't help that he can't let things ever just happen. She wanted to bring up some stuff of their past, of which she knows that he won't listen to.

"Well-" Claire stopped mid-sentence when Annie returned to the table.

"Did you two order already? Give me a minute and we'll be good to go."

Claire and Chris shared a glance at one another.

"Fine by me." Chris smiled.

"Same." Claire nodded.

"Great." Annie sat down beside Claire. It was a mostly quiet evening…

 **Merry Christmas everyone and happy new year. Thank you for reading, I hope you liked this chapter. :) Oh boy what did Claire get herself into?**

 **Special thanks to my beta reader The95will.**

 **Thank you very much Saito 87 I truly appreciate it. I'm glad you liked the way I wrote the two. Indeed Hunk was very patient with her through their time together...**

 **Welcome back reaper fan. :D lol it's like the eclipse huh?**

 **I agree with you there, I find it really annoying too, like they're isolated from the rest of the world or something lol**

 **In this case here Mr and Mrs Murphy :D I'm soo glad I made you see it yay. Yup it's far from done, it is 20 chapters or even more.**


	16. Chapter 15 The calm before the storm

**Thank you saito87: That moment you're talking about, it was not meant like this, believe me it's not. Okay I agree with you there, I mean certain authors are doing a great job, but I would like Wesker with humanity, not totally a good guy. :) Yeah I imagine Hunk not much into night stands. with expectations in the past that is.**

 **About guns, I'm not that much informed about them either, it's with the help of my friend the section was written down, it fits well.**

 **Chris and Claire just love to get in each other's throats, while they do have a real problem. lol :D**

 **Thank you very much Jill I'm happy you loved it. Means alot to me, you just wait and see. I hope you will like where I take the story.**

 **Thank you very much guest, I appreciate it.**

 **Chapter 15."The calm before the storm."**

A teenage girl with a brown reddish hair stood in the middle of the room. Several target bulls-eye circles showed up and she smirked. Twin pistols were raised at the same time. " Let us begin. "

One gun forward then shot at the first target, she bend over slightly. The second target was on a rotor and appeared on the move. The girl leveled her second pistol and fired. She chuckled and prepared both of her pistols and spun twice while shooting. With every flash of light, the guns fired nonstop and the smoke engulfed the training range.

The smoke started to dissipate. The girl kept her eyes forward as her handguns ejected their spent magazines.

KA-KUNK ! The magazines smacked the ground as she turned around.

" Perfect as usual. " Someone said and a round applause followed.

The girl turned around and bowed to her audience of two men. "Thank you Mike. " She uttered happily then rubbed her forehead, wiping away the trickles of sweat.

" Hey Jamie, you feel like challenging me ?" She said seductively.

The young man, rubbed his chin as he watched the slender figure of the girl saunter towards him. The exaggerated roll of her hips and body seemed to make her weave through the air. "You are on Kristen, I will be the one perfect for this upcoming mission and you ' ll see. "

Her fingers ran through her wavy hair, as she sighed. "I thought we are the dynamic partners, eh Hunk ?"

The boy crossed his arms. " I'm nice here, but during the job do not expect the same thing. "

Kristen's smile that was the last thing he saw before suffocating smoke covered his vision... a loud roar disturbed the silence, followed with a cry from Kristen.

' That is not good...enough. '

'...know your place slave... '

'Saaaad...we lost another one... '

'Where are you... ?' He screamed.

' James died... my name is Hunk. '

The Voices echoed, and Hunk felt his heart hammer within his chest. A painful scream ripped through him as he jolted awake. He whimpered, his eyes going over where he was... to make sure of where he was exactly. The midmorning light was coming pearly gray through the filtered window.

Night Hawk opened the door and stood there, worried. "What happened ?"

Hunk was silent for a moment, rubbing both of his temples. Breathing in and out. Still he felt the rush of adrenaline in his body. "Your name is Mike. "

"Well yeah, you know that. " Night Hawk said with a gentle nod. Hunk wasn't sure how to say it to him, that he was sure of fit now. Bits and pieces he for some odd reason had forgotten.

...

Chris pulled his sister in a warm embrace. "I'm a phone call away, okay little Claire bear?" He whispered. Claire tightened her grip around him, she still love the annoying jerk no matter what.

" I love you too Chris, Don't worry I will call you if I something comes up. "

Annie bowed slightly. "Let's do this again mister Redfield. "

"See you later Annie. "

The two stood in front of the mall entrance, after having a good lunch together. It was the usual, the sibling will fight and then go on with their lives like nothing happened. Visit, fight and leave … A cycle that both Chris and Claire never really attempted to break.

Chris turned back and went for the parking lot, Claire watched him slowly vanish from her sight. For once she was happy by this visit, he opened up about something he was hiding within.

" Hey Claire, " Annie spoke. "Let just take a walk around. "

Claire aimlessly followed her friend in the busy street, " Miss holier than thou. "

Claire had lost track of just how many times that line Chris had uttered had looped in her head before it seemed endless. Now she knew no other word that seemed cruel and harsh … She was no longer of any use to one of the few men she dared let close to her.

She cannot let this matter go no matter what she would do.

" Tell me Annie, what is your point of view about good and evil. " The two friends, went over the side walk, and the past by a woman with her stroller. As well as a couple holding hands and shopping bags in their hands.

Annie watched the street in front of her, the sight of the people everywhere going around the small market. Street venders shouting for their products, of many things.

Yet that question made her feel alone. Good and evil.

" Well, I have to say... " Annie whispered, sign of discomfort is obvious in her voice. " It's that no matter what one does. There will be terrible and good people. Such as those who had to be terrible to make good outcomes and vice versa. "

Claire stopped and stared into the crowd of people and Annie did the same.

" No one in this world can truly be a hero, even within the hearts of the heroes in our city. One will find selfishness, you will find hunger for control, self-centered attitude in others. Justice, is what suits the individual. "

Claire's mind went through her words carefully. Perhaps this is a perspective she never seen herself, or maybe she was misguided to the point of blindness.

' How come I never saw this before ? ' Claire mentally asked herself. She was the hero who wishes to kill someone … commit a murder. That must be hunger for violence with the excuse of vengeance for victims.

" I'm not a hero, I'm just a normal girl... with a bit of narrow perspective. I know my words sounds weird, but I need it, to figure things out. " Claire placed her hand on Annie's shoulder and started breathing in and out.

" Claire, we live and learn right?" Annie smiled. " I know you were changed since we left the city... I wonder who did this to you. " She said with a glint in her eyes.

" Well, let's just say it's someone unexpected at all. " Claire said in a sly manner and her hand went through her hair. "I'm going in the subway, I have place I need to visit for a job. "

"It's okay, let's go. "

The two walked alongside the sidewalk and noticed a sign for the underground. Claire relaxed her shoulders as Annie and the two commenced in small talk. The grey bricks and layered walls came into view.

Annie spotted the staircase and the two entered the subway. The lights had the halls be completely clear. Illuminated advertisements with graffiti on the occasional wall. The screeching of the rails hummed in the halls as Claire and Annie paid to enter. A dozen or so layered maps of the ways to show the various lines.

The low hanging ceiling was of a dark blue color and a dozens of pillars were spread out. Benches were arranged in the center of the waiting commuters. Claire and Annie saw which line they needed to take and stood near a pillar.

They waited for about ten minutes.

Their subway train arrived and the two entered a car. The car had poles and seats alongside the walls. The silver shine and iron smell was prevalent as both women sat down in the mid and back of the car.

Claire crossed her arms and sat still in the car, strangely enough, there were only boys in the side a woman in the left and that was it.

" Excuse me miss ?"

Claire turned to glare openly at the kid, probably no older than 15 or 16. He had bleached brown hair that spiked in all directions. She noted with a derisive laugh that if he did jump her all she'd have to do is give his pants a gentle nudge and they ' d probably fall off his behind. The more he spoke up, it felt like the group was about to invade Annie and Claire ' s personal space.

Claire could trip him that way as well, rip out the nipple ring that was noticeable through his t-shirt. She didn't have time to contemplate and wonder about his parents and how do they feel about this ?

"Back off little boy. I don't carry a purse, or even a wallet, " Claire growled up at him remaining in her seat.

He looked shocked at her for a moment, having the audacity to look ignorant. It seemed this was his first time playing this game, because he didn't even have a witty retort for her.

" Claire? " Annie leaned back and gave a confused stare.

' How boring. ' Claire thought.

He sidled away back to his buddies where they regrouped. Claire meanwhile laid her head back and closed her eyes tiredly. The streaking light of the tunnel flashed every second and the skeleton of maintenance outside.

" Hey bitch, I hear you think you're hot shit, " a prepubescent voice came from nowhere. Claire opened one eye to find herself surrounded on all sides. Her face split into a smile.

" I already told your buddy, you wanna be cool. I don't carry what you're looking for, and you certainly don't want what I do. "

The idiot boy bent over and she caught a whiff of the cologne he had bathed and motioned himself with. She waved her hand in front of her face and coughed in displeasure which only seemed to anger him further. Annie shook her head as to remembering Claire ' s stubborn nature.

" What if I told you it wasn't money we wanted from you ?" He growled with a smirk on his face. She returned it, leaning forward and crossing one leg over the other. She lifted her finger to beckon him closer.

" So you want what I have beneath here then?" She whispered seductively as she played with zipper of her pants. The idiot eyed her belly, swallowed and nodded as if he had just scored. He thought tonight he was going to get laid by an older woman.

Claire reached up and pulled a knife that was strapped to her ankle, pressing it into boy's belly. " Move along kid, go back to school for the sake of your future. "

Unfortunately she hadn't expected to hear a scream coming from the end of the car. The woman had gotten on and had been frightened at the sight of her knife. All it took was that split second distraction to find herself weaponless and held by three of them.

" Not so smart now are you ?" One of the teens retorted.

" Hey let her go. " Annie struggled to fight off on of them. But she was no fighter, the boy held her hand and swing her to her back... pinned.

" Get off me!" Claire hissed as she kicked, bit, and clawed to get out of their grasp. Finally she found an opening and crawled out of their reach, kicking one in the middle of his chest in the process. The larger boy moved with his other friend to grab her ankle so she kicked, breaking boy's nose with a disgusting crack.

He fell back clutching his face, but the others didn't seem to notice.

The clear thud of the train car vibrated as Claire turned to crawl into a standing position when she was yanked up by an arm and tossed behind someone. She blinked confused and saw deep grey somewhere in front of her and a dust brown boot. The sound of ruffling clothes was apparent and with the sound of fists on skin contact.

Claire could see from her vantage point a sudden look of terror on their faces as they gazed at the figure before them. She was never sure what it was they saw on his face, because she stood behind him, but whatever it was made them run so quickly.

" You survived tough monsters, and you let a bunch of teenagers get to you, really Redfield ?" The figure bemoaned.

That voice.. ?

"It's you. " She said, confused. Hunk turned to look at her with a smirk.

Claire was sure, yes it's him. A face she would not forget. "Shut up, I was doing fine damaging the idiots until you came along. "

Claire looked up to see that Hunk trimmed down his hair and looked presentable when he wasn't drenched in sweat. Damn jerk could not have helped sooner.

Behind Hunk she saw man dressed in a red jacket help Annie get on her feet. "Hey little princess, they should learn their lesson. " Annie had an obvious crimson color in her cheeks. From how Hunk was not threatened by the other guy, it was clear to Claire that was Night Hawk.

" Mmm... yeah. " Annie replied as she wiped off the dirt.

Hunk smiled smugly. "You are so gun ho about justice you create problems to solve, even on trains ? " Hunk looked At Night Hawk. "Could make for a comic book backstory. "

"I'll buy it." Nighthawk replied.

'Fucking smartass ! ' Claire clenched her fists. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Hunk crossed his arms and smiled. "Gee thanks, nice to see you too. " He said with a light chuckle.

Claire grumbled to herself as she got back on her feet. Hunk just walked onward so he can stand beside Night Hawk, he was a footstep away from Claire.

Annie dusted her coat one last time, sensing the awkward tension. "Who is this guy Claire ?" She noticed Night Hawk winking at her seductively.

Claire only turned to walk away, but then a knee buckled over a bag left by the boy. Hunk heard her curse silently as her weight pulled her to the ground. She found herself sitting on top of Hunk and him staring at the ceiling.

" Get the hell off of me. " Hunk said, it seems he was ready to snap any moment. " You clumsy idiot. "

His eyes rolled and for some reason she felt flush from the contact. She quickly looked away from him and she let out a laugh that came out more like a nervous wheeze …

The subway car came to a halt, it was her exit. Claire pulled herself off of him. "Sorry, yeah I'm clumsy. " Annie tugged in her hand and walked out through the door with her.

" What are you doing out the open like this? " Claire looked to her left and right.

" We still have our own lives you know. " Night Hawk spoke on both of their behalf.

" Claire, who are these guys ? "

Claire wanted to explain everything here and there, but she saw how Hunk paid more attention to the city map. Also, secrecy is their thing. She decided not to push it. "I'll explain later. "

Night Hawk and Hunk watched as the train slowed down on their arrival. The car doors opened and Night Hawk gave a half-hearted salute as a goodbye. They had their own business.

The two girls returned to the street, it was on the calmer side of the city and it contained the occasional diamond and jewelry shops. It had a couple of people walking about. Though the street was busy with cars.

" I think I will try my luck with a place here. " Claire said. "I mean watching over the sales, and handle the cashier is not the best job in the world but... it ' s better than nothing. "

"I agree with you there, this could be just a job for now. Until our life here gets better and by the way. "

Annie shrugged as she watched the two men walk off the distance. "I know you have your own issues. Whatever it is. Just come to me when you're ready. Those kids didn't even start that fight with us. "

Claire looked to the ground in defeat. "I'm sorry. "

Annie nodded to the sidewalk. "Come on, we don't want you to be late. "

Claire had a gnawing feeling in the back of her mind ; almost an itch between her shoulders. As they passed the street to the other side of the sidewalk, she got the impulse to turn around because in the back of her mind she know that there is someone else nearby.

At last she gazed back, but there was nothing suspicious. Still the feeling never left her, like someone is watching her every step closely... a ghost.

...

Night Hawk had borrowed a pretty nice looking Porsche off the street to take them to the building where they will get Nikolai's attention in the perfect way...

It was late afternoon, and Hunk wondered what was up with this.

They didn't hear anything from him yet, to think he will keep watch on them. But he wasn't going to try and contact him again texts or phone calls. Something that simple would not be easy to forget, but then again, professionals are not always on top of things. Maybe he thought they didn't make it out alive. This perfect, the moment of surprise he will get him.

There was the building — an old tenant Hunk knew all too well, there is a couple of Umbrella men staying there and all were loyal to Nikolai and Sergei. The perfect chance to hit him and learn information where John Murphy could be.

After all he knew Sergei rented most of the rooms out for about one tenth of the market value, a little something in the side to gain money off of it.

 **Thank you for reading, I will try to update again sooner.**

 **Miss some action? stay tuned for the next chapter.**

 **...A little preview for the next chapter...**

 **The fire siren shook the whole floor, as people started to run out of there scared.**

 **Night Hawk placed a flare up on the roof and lit it, creating a white glow in the night sky.**

 **John Murphy wrung his hands, he was ready to snap any minute. " This is not good, if we kept going at this rate... " he frowned."I'll die before I surrender to wesker."**

 **Claire handed the woman her money, " Thank you, please come again soon. " She held into the counter as she felt once again someone is watching her. The feeling is too much, especially that she cannot tell where he is.**

 **" Mountain of corpses will not stand in my way. " Wesker whispered.**


	17. Chapter 16 The first stricke

**Chapter 16. "The First Strike."**

The time was close to 6:30 P.M. when the two mercenaries arrived. In the front desk there was a brunette woman who looked to be in her early 30s, there was an opened book before her upon the desk. Behind her was a layered arrangement of keys. The lobby of the place was vacant for the most part until two sets of shoes approached the front desk.

Hunk went in immediately and placed an amount of money in front of her. "Give me the cheapest room you have, for two." The woman stared at him for a moment as if she was on alert from him.

"Okay Jesus." She replied and took a pen from her front pocket. "I need a names."

Night Hawk came in and placed his hand on the desk.

"My name is Morgan babe, and he's Steve." The self-proclaimed suave leaned on the desk. Once he removed his palm there was another small bundle of money. The woman at first was confused, two guys just offered a lot of money to her out of nowhere in order to rent a room.

Of course she's seen worse enter through the lobby doors. Of course she would prefer to inquire some questions on the men. "Of course." She replied as she tied the names in her computer.

However, asking questions could scare off customers… Against her own curiosity. "What do you want?" she said with a frown.

Hunk made sure to memorize the front desk employee's name, which was Peggy from the nametag. If something were to happen while they were here.

Just in case.

Night Hawk pushed Hunk slightly to the side and smiled at her. "He's just hungry. We skipped lunch today."

The woman's eyes moved from Hunk to Night Hawk, until she pushed the thoughts away and wrote down the names. At last she spun the chair behind and took a key from the handlers. She placed the key on the desk and simply replied. "Enjoy."

Night Hawk took it and winked at her. "Thank you." The two went over to the elevator and they did not have to wait long for their luck, once they entered: Hunk noticed that the woman at the desk watched them until the door closed.

"Steve, seriously?" Hunk shook his head lightly."What?"

"If government dogs are sent here to find someone suspicious. Steve is just too generic to be real." Nighthawk replied. "Well, I would have called you _Asshole_. But that name was already taken on the list." Night Hawk stared at the changing elevator numbers. "Seriously relax."

Hunk exhaled through his nose.

"I think you scared her enough." Night Hawk commented.

Hunk face palmed himself and took a breath, in and out for a moment, until he heard the ding informing him they arrived to the fifth floor, for their key had the number 507.

Night Hawk whistled as he walked down the hallway and winked at a woman that passed him. The corridor was well kept and clean, it had goldish ceramic tiles, a dark brown carpet and small chandeliers in the wall, giving the place a gloomy lightning.

"Eyes front." Hunk nagged as he took hold the room key.

"Relax, there's still time." Night Hawk replied casually, as his eyes traveled behind to see the woman walking away. She was definitely the kind of woman that worked out when she wore some perfectly form fitting pants. The tight cloths definitely got his attention.

"Sure." Hunk grumbled.

"So what's the plan for this evening?" Night Hawk pulled out a keycard he stole to open a maintenance passage to get around.

"Just sleep."

"Righto boss. I was thinking about asking our hotel front desk for some crab legs." The door opened and before the light was turned on, Hunk whispered.

"Get some of that for me too, with a side of French fries…"

"There we go." Night Hawk laughed.

Their room was neither completely cheap nor 5 stars. There was two beds with white sheets, pillow and blankets. A window with a view of the street and a clean bathroom.

Night Hawk chose the bed close to the door, it was a habit of his to not sleep close to a window. Hunk did not argue with Night Hawk on the matter. He picked up the phone and dialed for the front desk as Hunk watched the street in silence. Night Hawk wanted to glance at Hunk, but did not want to show him too much attention.

'How long can he last like this?' As Night Hawk spoke to the front desk with an order for food. Back when the two grew up, their instructors were always impressed of how well James did.

'He'll be fine.' Night Hawk did not pay attention as his order was being read back to him. "Um yes, can you run that by me one more time?"

Hunk did not move from the window for almost a minute.

'I might be wrong about James…' Finally, Night Hawk relented against his better judgment.

"Are you okay?" Night Hawk asked. "Your memories are returning aren't they?"

Hunk's shoulders dipped as he looked away from the glass. He narrowly stared at Night Hawk. Night Hawk wished for a snarky comment but got the opposite.

"What? How'd you...?"

Night Hawk smiled at him, one devoid of happiness. "We are not merely lab children James. It's something I figured it out a while ago and I was not sure how to tell you this." Night Hawk interlocked his fingers nervously.

"Enough playing,start talking now..."

 **A woman** **in her late thirties** **stood inside the living room with a bright smile in her face, she had a long raven hair that reached past her shoulders to her elbows.** **Her expression was blank for the most part as her eyes just stared off into space.**

 **In the middle between the fancy couchs there was two boys playing and competing with each other of who can** **win in a thumb war. The front door slammed as a pair of shoes skidded against the hardwood flooring.**

 **The woman felt the hair at the back of her neck stand upright with the intensity of the presence, this was different than all the times before and she knew it. The two boys were confused by the sound but did not let it faze them as they continued with their game.**

" **Judith." A single voice summoned her on the other side of the house. She did not want to look away from her sons.**

 **Eventually Mike was the one to see a level of distress come from his mother. This also caught the attention of James who looked back at the other half of the living room**

 **Judith expressed a level of composure. "It's okay, I just have to talk to daddy."**

 **She knew what must be done and looked away.** **She did not greet in a falsehoods toward her husband. Even to be with someone she grew to despise, she could not completely hate the gift her sons turned out to be. She left the living room to make a stop in her room.** **Judith looked to the drawer and quickly yanked it open, shoving all the junk out of the way and pulling out the old box from the bottom.** **It was a case that held a twin set of CZ-75 handguns, as well as a 9mm Walter P22 handgun.**

 **The CZ-75s were something from Judith's early days and hoped to be a gift for her sons when they would be older. She took a long and deep breath then walked to the living room and ordered both Mike and James to get to the same room.**

 **With both hands with the CZs, she kneeled down and handed one to each of them. The things were not loaded of course, but there wouldn't be another time before she could pass these heirloom off.**

 **"These weapon will be yours in the future, got it? Go hide now."**

 **"Mom…" Mike clenched to her waist.**

 **"What about you…?" James looked up at her, staring in mute shock.**

 **"Go." She said sternly and they did, looking back only once before disappearing into the house. Judith herself stepped in the room armed and ready** **with the Walter P22.**

 **She heard John do a little rummaging in the other room close by before he started screaming. "Judith!" And he came in the living room. His face** **engulfed in anger.**

 **"What do you want?"** **Fear was evident in her tone.**

 **John's eyes scanned the room a bit before he returned to her. "Where** **are** **the boys, it's** **time** **."**

 **Hearing these words sent a rage through her. "These are your children you bastard, have some mercy!"**

 **"Those two are not children, but an investment. Do you have any idea what could happen if we backed out?"** **He said, walking dangerously slow to her.**

 **Judith stared in disbelieve, deep down wondering where the hell is the man she loved and agreed to marry long ago?** **He was the** **sweet guy who showered her with love and tenderness.**

 **"** **They will live their own lives as they see fit** **!" She** **angrily** **whispered as she raised her handgun.**

 _ **CLICK!**_ **Judith blinked in shock.** _ **CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!**_

 **She leaned away in defeat. "You removed the firing pin."**

 **John smirked and crossed his arms. "Where is the love Judy? Those boys will help us."**

 **"They already helped me." Judith argued back. "I hate you John."**

 **At the other side of the hall of the confrontation. Mike observed the ordeal.**

Hunk laid down on the bed and took a breath. "Who told you all of this? Why can't I remember her or this event?"

Night Hawk heaved a long shudder, this is too much to do in one time. "Sorry bro," he whispered. "I figured this out when they caught me in that town. I started remembering certain things before I got wounded and the outbreak spread."

Hunk drew his pistol, which was an H&K P8. He tightened his grip on the gun and remained quiet for the next hour or so.

.

.

.

Hunk stood near the door of the maintenance path and waited, it was opening slowly and a shadow of a person was visible, the figure tried to stab with his left hand but Hunk caught it and twisted it to the point the man screamed in pain. His grip was loosen and the knife hit the ground. Hunk held his other arm and flipped him in his back. The man did not get a chance to breathe when he felt Hunk' leg tripped him to the ground.

"Where is Nikolai?" Hunk coldly asserted.

The man trembled under him. "Fuck you." The henchman shouted only for him to see a barrel of his gun pointing directly at his forehead.

"O…kay, okay. He is in Russia with Sergei." Hunk lowered his knee on the guy's throat as he kept an eye out for any friends to the henchman. When the lack of movement proved that it was clear, Hunk moved his knee. He relented on the force to let him speak. "...And Nikolai is going somewhere in Spain afterwards."

"Hmm..." Hunk pondered over what he heard for a moment before the man cough for air. "That is what I know."

"Of course." Hunk had a blank expression as he took a knife out and stabbed the henchman in the skull at the temple and jaw. Once the guy died Hunk moved the body to an isolated corner of the room. Hunk holstered his gun and continued to where he should go.

He loosened the top screws and removed the air vent grill. A few things would be immediately obvious to anyone who looked inside the vent. One, the back of the vent was sealed off, so it was no longer functional. Two, the large white bucket and the big battery pack probably didn't belong down there. He pried the lid off the bucket and was immediately greeted by the chemical smell that infused the front room, so familiar he barely noticed it.

In the darkness, Hunk found supplies left for him by Night Hawk. A bucket with lighter fluid. Behind the bucket was a lighter. "Who doesn't love a purge?" He flicked on the lighter and a small fire erupted from there.

A creepy smirk broke across his face as he throw it over, where he placed the lighter fluid. In mere seconds the fire spread all over the room. The electrical wires cracked and a blackout followed.

Peggy was in her room checking her computer for the payment so far, it was a routine for her also to check with Sergei about how work is going. She clicked in a file in the side of the screen and prepared to write her message when her vision begin to blur. The lights in her room flickered for a moment until they were turned off for good.

She rubbed her eyes, but it still there, a moment later her nose caught the horrible smell of fire. "Oh dear god." She screamed and hurried out of the room.

The fire siren shook the whole building, as people started to run out of their rooms scared. Most of them went over the fire escape while others used the stairs. The temperature started to raise in the B floor first and started raising up, and fire eating the kitchen and side bathrooms.

Night Hawk stood near the stairs leading to the rooftop in a building two blocks away. "Music to my ears." He was at the ready to do his part of the plan.

He opened the door and it made a loud creek. He searched through his messenger bag and took a small flare out of it. He placed it on the ground and took out his lighter.

The flare created a beautiful white glow in the night sky in spite of the meaning behind it. "Yeah, we're still here Nikolai, wait for us."

.

.

.

The phone in the penthouse kept ringing, disturbing the silence in the place, John came out of the room half a sleep and angry to the point he is ready to kill someone. He rounded behind his desk and pressed the speaker button, "This better be good, your life depend on it."

"Mister Murphy we have troubles, I just got a message from Sergei." The assistant named Sterling trembled to speak the information.

Once he heard the name Sergei he was wide awake, the two are allies and he should know about anything that happens. "What now?"

Starling cleared his throat and swallowed a lump. "The building he own is on fire at this very moment some of our enforcers there are dead… We can get the bodies cleared out before law enforcement completely cut off the area."

John's face changed dramatically in mere seconds. "What!?"

"According to one of our people, there was a white flare lit from the roof top and that should mean something to you specially."

John felt the blood drain from his face, his heart bump like thunder. A white flare, he knew only one person who used it.

"The runts turn up now," he whispered. John wrung his hands and paced back and forth behind the desk, he was ready to snap any minute and kill someone. "This is not good, if we kept going at this rate..." He frowned. "I'll die before I surrender to Wesker."

"Sir don't give up hope, Nikolai already sent his men after her for the plan to work later." Sterling replied.

The plan Ada Wong discussed with him, he still have his doubts about that but at this situation he had to try and take risks, before his children catch him and send him in one way trip to hell.

They don't know by doing that, they will have so much power beyond what they think. "Right, we just have to wait for now."

...

The two mercenaries walked through the side street after they took one last look at their handy work. Smoke began to clear and they were able to breath normal-fresh air once again."I cannot wait to be face to face with that bastard, we have so many issues to settle." Hunk commented.

"You could say that again. I wonder what his reaction is going to be."

...

The market was busy even though it's night time, lucky her that she was allowed to work a shift at this hour as a fill in from another worker absent that day. The sooner she works the better for her and Annie to earn money and get back on their feet.

Claire was dressed in a red vest and a dark blue shirt underneath along with a dark blue pants, her work uniform. The glass door opened and a couple entered, along with two women behind them.

"Welcome thank you for choosing our place." she greeted them with a smile. A woman came in and placed her things for a check out. As fast as she can, Claire spent a moment to wait if the new arrivals had questions. None of them said so. Heck, it only made Claire's job easier.

Once one of the browsers found something, Claire was ready to assist her.

Claire handed the woman her money, "Thank you, and please come again soon." She held into the counter as she felt once again someone is watching her. The feeling is too overwhelming like he is watching her every move, every breath. Especially that she cannot tell where he/she is. Claire's eyes observed the placed as much as her vision allowed her.

She saw a woman and her child gathering groceries, a man alone checking a paper in his hand, no doubt doing errands to his wife or to his own place alone, and many costumers around. Nothing was unusual.

"What's going on?" she whispered.

In the heat of the moment Claire felt numb in her stomach, "Excuse me." She called out to a coworker behind her. "Can you cover for me, I'm going to the bathroom."

"Sure thing." The raven haired man answered with a smile.

Claire did not answer and she just sprinted onward toward the bathroom, she bumped into two people in her way to the door.

Claire was slumped over the sink, prepared to throw up. She breathed heavier than normal. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, her face was slack. "What's happening to me?"

"There you are, Kristen." A muffed voice spoke behind her and everything went black.

 **Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this. Please leave a review, stay tuned until next time.**


	18. Chapter 17 Humanity

**Thank you very much David S, I'm so happy I caught your attention this far. Be patient with me a bit.**

 **Thank you Saito 87, Yep Nighthawk is the light of the story, the one who bring a smile over the troubles. :)**

 **Yeah I agree with you there, since I wanted to focus on Hunk and his brother I wanted to keep going and create an OC that could be the main villain. It's kinda tough but I'm glad it's working fine for the story. It's indeed very tiring to read about the same villains.**

 **Chapter 17. "Humanity."**

Hunk crossed his legs over the bed, with a map spread wide before him. His left foot would twitch for every twenty seconds or so. Night Hawk usually attributed it as some sort of concentration technique, or that he's just energetic for the moment. It's been 3 hours since they returned from causing a fire in that hotel. He cannot sleep, not until he make sure of his next move.

Revenge is sweet.

A sea or green grass waved gently in the wind. A small house was in next to a small dirt road on the outskirts of a small town. The country side does have its perks, but the duo were not picky on what the standards should be for a safe house.

The house creaked and not have working electricity. A window in the upper floor was cracked and such. Everything had to be disposable. Also, Night Hawk lost the coin toss on who would pick the next safe house.

In other news, they should have simply let him go if they no longer needed his services.

Night Hawk whistled as he clicked the keyboard. Searching more of The T-Abyss virus and what does it have to do with anything? Luckily when everyone in Umbrella had to go underground. That meant that the non-level headed types did not change their passwords and ID information and that was something that Hunk copied into a private server. Night Hawk was able to hack quite a few accounts of employees inside that lab in the town, and now it is easy for him to log in and look through things. Maybe there is a recurring theme of such.

Just the occasional not safe for work images that the co-workers would have saved in their workplace computers. An arms dealer that was in contact with one of the security teams to smuggle some of the B. . Yet the one that confused Night Hawk the most was the maintenance costs for some the facilities in the furthest places. Why would someone develop a base in Antarctica for some absurd reason?

There was one that caught Night Hawk's attention the most. There was not much in terms for the water creatures that didn't just mean infecting fish with the T-Virus. Granted the stuff that rots in the ocean is not something that could impress a buyer. Abyss, was a code name that would be mentioned every now and again.

Abyss...

Night Hawk leaned away from his computer and stretched his arms to the ceiling. He glanced to his right to see the hotplate with a rice cooker slowly brim with heat. Sucks that he forgot to get soy sauce to have with that rice. He shook his head lightly and pondered on the undertaking of an aquatic based virus.

Sure it would come into benefits of the defense, but that could spread completely into drinking water and of the like. Harder to contain overall. Night Hawk chuckled to himself after the crap show Raccoon City turned out to be when rats got their little diseased filled fur to spread.

Maybe the Abyss virus wasn't meant for the ocean after all?

The FBC confiscated whatever data they could find on Umbrella. So the ones would know the most would have been them.

Night Hawk browsed through the image files of what the test subjects appeared to transform into. He went down to look more at the concept, their thoughts of how it could be. They look human in shape, however their body is large and looked strong that could take anything. Their human face is still intact.

They even planned their clothes and possible gear. It reminded him so much of the good old days when Mr. X was unleashed in Raccoon City.

"They failed miserably." Night Hawk continued. "They turned into something like a sea monster."

Hunk rolled his eyes and gazed at him. "What does this have to do with us? The plan to kill their remaining soldiers?"

"Everything actually." Night Hawk sighed and turned the laptop. "We and the other survivors. I guess the FBC wants all those who know of the research and to keep it under wraps. Who knows, this could be stuff that didn't make it into the black market. Something is fishy with FBC. You better warn Vector."

"They're all underground now. I have no method of contacting him in the first place." Hunk rolled his shoulders. "By the way, your rice is burning."

Night Hawk's eyes widened as he moved the laptop out of his way and he jogged to the hot plate. "You could have warned me!"

"I just did." Hunk watched Night Hawk frantically take a plastic fork to stir the white rice. The steam puffed out in his face. He touched the side of the rice cooker and he flinched at the pain and nearly dropped the rice cooker.

"You're a jerk." Night Hawk turned the hot plate off. With a paper plate, Night Hawk dished his meal out.

"I know." Hunk sighed and focused back again in the map before him. "It's a price we must pay huh? Like a game of chess, and the king wants to sacrifice his soldiers one by one."

Hunk reached for a shopping bag that was by his side. He pulled out a small black bottle and waved at Night Hawk. With a gentle toss, Night Hawk caught the bottle then he read the label. 'Soy Sauce.'

Night Hawk rolled his eyes as he looked forward to the meal now.

"I wonder what would benefit Wesker from helping us?" Night Hawk murmured.

"I don't owe Wesker anything." Hunk replied sharply.

A notification ringtone echoed through their small room from Night Hawk's lap top, sound loud enough to tell him that he got a message. Night Hawk set his plate down.

"Huh?" He was confused of who could message him now at this hour? He moved the crosser and clicked open. The message was titled. **Play the game**. And there was a video attached there.

"Ah Hunk, check this out." He waved at him worriedly. Hunk pushed himself to the side of the bed and focused on the screen.

Night Hawk clicked the video and it took a moment to buffer.

A scene unfold before them, of a woman blindfolded, hands and legs are pinned with a rope in what seems to be inside a helicopter. "Say the name." Someone spoke in the video.

The woman stirred slightly. Nikolai appeared and grabbed the woman by the hair. "Say the name, now!"

Hunk and Night Hawk exchanged looks for a moment, before looking back at the video.

The woman's lips trembled, as she struggled to find her voice. "Hunk." She said quietly. Nikolai smirked and looked straight at the camera.

"Dear Hunk. We have your girl. If you don't want her to die then come and meet me in Russia, inside Sergei's facility. Or are you too much of a coward?"

Night Hawk was speechless at first, unsure what to think of all of this. Calmly, he just scooped his plate up to continue eating. "What a load of shit, this is a tra-"

"I'm going after her." Hunk interrupted.

Night Hawk shrugged. "Excuse me?" As he watched Hunk stand up and go for the weapons bag. "You're serious?"

Hunk rummaged through and pulled his chosen weapons. He placed them on his bed and went for the uniform. "I am." He simply answered.

 **The worm charged once again, but this time he saw the flash of a gunshot behind him. Much to his surprise, it was Claire, she sprinted in and stood between him and the worm. "What a Giant Ass worm." She shouted until her gun** _ **clicked**_ **with the last of her bullets.**

 **..**

 **"Why did you come here?"** **He mumbled.**

 **She took off her jacket then tore it into several strips. "Come on, stay awake." Claire whispered.**

Night Hawk came in closer and touched Hunk's shoulder. "Who the hell are you and what did you do to Hunk?" He chuckled. A sound both confused and happy.

Hunk raised a hand up as he didn't want Night Hawk to get too close. "I owe her and that is all you need to know. We were hunting down Nikolai anyway."

"Ooookay?" Night Hawk dragged out his tone then paid close attention to his body language. The last time he ever saw him like this was with...Kristen! He wanted to ask more, does he remember what happened to her? is he still holding on a guilt?

Hunk adjusted a latch of his uniform and final strap of his mask, perfectly. "Hurry up and change."

"Do I have to?" He rolled his eyes. Hunk just stared at him silently a gesture he knew all too well.

Night Hawk took a last bite of his rice and shook his head. "Righto boss." He made up his mind to save the questions for later, maybe after Nikolai paid the price.

Hunk buckled up next to the co-pilot seat and took a breath. Night Hawk checked the engine and the radar. He had to make sure everything is working fine. This was Night Hawk's personal helicopter, it was modified to perfection. None of that standardized bullshit.

"You remember the location of Sergei's facility right?" Hunk asked through the headset.

"Yes don't worry, you know more than anyone, that I have the best memory." He said and started to descend to the sky.

The Helicopter flew very fast rushing through the air without a bump or a jolt when all of a sudden bad weather overtook them. The Helicopter began to swing from side to side and Night Hawk was a little troubled in controlling it, not like he never faced an issue like this before.

Hunk stared out on the horizon.

 **"That is it. What are you? Why are you like this?" The smile vanished from Claire's face and went into a defeated posture.**

 **"Force of habit, I never leave anyone behind, I'm in no way agree with your golden rule. If I am able to save one life then I did good no matter what, this what makes me human.**

' _You better be alive Redfield_.' Hunk thought to himself. ' _You are not the type to let someone else walk all over you_.'

After long flight Hunk stared down at the sight and the ocean looked like a meadow from high in the air. The early dawn color gave the view even more majestic feeling.

...

It was around nightfall when the two finally reached Sergei's facility. Through the fast approaching darkness they could see the silhouette of creatures approaching and following the helicopter.

"It seems we have a special date with hunters eh?" Night Hawk teased."Not my kind of women, oh well."

"Shut up and find a landing point." He rolled his eyes.

The wind blow harshly as Night Hawk slowly landed on a nearby hill. The strength of the router blades had pushed the snow and created something that resembles a tornado in shape.

Night Hawk turned off the helicopter engine. "Jesus Christ." He whispered. Hunk jumped off and pulled his SMG and handgun.

The snow was like a mini hurricane of snow and ice. Everything is dark and blinding at the same time. He can barely see anything around him because of the blowing wall of white.

Night Hawk did not want to risk using a head light otherwise it could give away their position.

To Hunk's right, something broke through the snow wall. A Hunter lunged at him and he fired half of his magazine into it. It rolled to the side as two more Hunters broke through. Even in the dark, the snow wall would make the Hunters visible. With the handgun, Hunk shot the closest one in the jaw and head which moved to the side. The third one tackled Hunk from behind and as the claws were raised to the sky to build momentum in the attack.

A small grey concussion grenade rolled out of the helicopter and a flash of blinding light assaulted the senses of the Hunter. Hunk pushed up and rolled to the side and blasted the Hunter away.

Hunk waved Night Hawk off and he nodded. He pulled the helicopter down to land.

He went over the path going down, a trail of footsteps behind him. He could feel his breath freezing, still he didn't feel much pain. A ghastly figure of the facility was before him in the distance. Hunk still remember the time he visited this place, there should be a way inside through the tunnel. There is a secret door also within the place.

Hunk holstered his handgun.

Night Hawk followed behind, through his goggles he can see the hunters charging their way. "Move it, I can handle them just fine." Night Hawk pointed out.

"Roger that." Hunk replied and went forward.

Once he was close enough to the place a sound stopped him for a moment. A sound of hissing and growling. Hunk's eyes darted around to locate whatever watched him, but it was too dark to see far. He moved his gun. Eventually, something jumped at him, creature with a hunched back. The skin looked rough, scaly, and tough.

"I don't play with amateurs!" Hunk mused and twisted his weapon, allowing reflexes to finish the job. The weapon flickered from what little light there was while the creature's claws slammed into his weapons with a clash with their steel bloody claws. However the Hunter charged even foreword and give Hunk a punch hard enough to send him flying.

Hunk landed on his chest and cried for a moment. "Damn it." he whispered and pushed himself up ready for the monster.

Hunk smiled widely under his mask, his feet planted wide apart, the line of his body perfect. He started it firing and swiftly he jumped down and fired upwards over the creatures eyes.

Until the hunter fell lifeless under his foot. He took a moment to take a breath and regain his composure.

He started to head toward the facility when he heard multiple steps and sounds. "I know it, he must have something fun planned for me. Right Nikolai!" He shouted the last words and prepared, he observed the dog's movements.

The shadows moved uncontrollably circling him, ready for attack.

Two figures growled and jumped toward him. Immediately Hunk fired with both of his guns non-stop where the dogs breezed through the air with bullets embedding themselves in the flesh, blood spilled out and stained the clear snow.

He could sense them behind, swiftly he dodge a charging dog by jumping and roll to his side. Then it charged over him and two bullets from his pistol, Hunk took a knee and stood up shortly afterward.

The empty magazine was ejected to the snow.

Once the dog fall, silent followed it. He waited for a second before he jogged toward his goal. The path he went for didn't have any doors as far as he could see, though he remembered the tunnel's path.

In midst of it all, he heard the sound of Helicopters in the distance approaching. "Must be them."

He kept walking to the other side. He went right and down the steps. The area down was covered in snow, stained with something black mixed with sands. Though he didn't care much and he went for the path he spotted earlier. There he saw ladder going down. Hunk rolled his eyes and he jumped down to the dark.

He landed on the ground, his body trembled, feet first then proceed to force his weight forward and rolled off the impact. The rubber of the boots clattered on the bits of rock and snow. Several bits of snow fell behind him, but he was in too much of hurry to brush it off.

Down in the tunnel he found himself cornered by zombies, a large smile broke across his face almost casually he ducked down avoiding their hungry hands. He gave two of the zombies a forceful shove in the wall's direction with a kick to the first an he elbowed the next.

The soft and rotting skulls split open. He shrugged off the bits of the flesh and noticed a zombie on the floor attempting to crawl at him. Hunk took a step forward and much force he could generate, he punted the head so hard. The zombie's head snapped back completely.

He took out his H&K MP7 sub machine gun and fired at two more, making them spill their guts all over the ground.

Hunk then fired at the legs of the others with the help of his pistol, launching a rough attack that quite almost tore their legs out and he took the chance and left them crawling on the ground in confusion. He used a flash light strapped to his chest to see what's going on around him.

He was left with two choices. Hunk frowned at the thought, but still he is not backing down. He paced through the sewer water while remaining alert to his surroundings. Luckily he reached the door without the need to shoot anything.

He wanted to open the door however his sensing kicked in. He almost could hear the sound of footsteps moving about. He smirked at the thoughts of the idiot trying to take him off guard.

Hunk slowly touched the handle, his machine gun in his left hand. Through the tension a hand swiped over his face and he easily touched his forearm and forced the man out toward him. "Make one wrong move and you will die."

The man shook in fear, but he did as he told, it seems he was in his late thirties. He was wearing a white coat like a doctor.

Hunk forcefully kicked his abdomen, making him slam at the wall, once again he put his sub-machine gun over the man's forehead. Hunk knelt down a little and waited for him to talk and tell him.

"Kristen is waiting for you." The man heaved the words.

"What!?"

The man smirked. "You still remember her right?" He said and raised an eyebrow at him. "Come on Mister Death. Don't you think it's time to face your past?"

 **'Mister Death is about to die.'**

Hunk slammed his gun over the man's head, making him lose consciousness. He walked forward toward the steel door. The ground before him now appeared cleaner, and brighter light is up-ahead.

He opened the door and found himself in a large hall with several metal crates and a balcony up where there is path lead to elevator.

Hunk heard a moan as he looked to his right and saw a zombies approach him.

"Ah, nice." He whispered. Night Hawk busted through the door and threw a small grenade at them.

Hunk & Night Hawk locked eyes, and it seems like a thought was passed between them, they nodded to one another.

Night Hawk drew his knife and dived toward the zombies, slicing through them, flickering and rained blood. While Hunk drove forward, his own sub machine gun and combat knife flashing through the air. He hacked and shot the exposed flesh of the zombies with all the force he could muster, in one wide swing at the abdomen had a hole which had the body stumble forward. While they were preoccupied with the force of his attack, Hunk gave them a forceful shove in Night Hawk's direction. For his part, had bent down slightly while did a wide sweeping kick to cause the zombies to slam harshly against the ground. He fed grenades to two of them and he rolled back in a hurry to avoid the explosion.

The explosion was loud enough to echo through the entire place for a moment, before the smoke cleared.

"So what's the plan?" He asked.

Hunk sighed and tapped his shoulder. "We separate. I'll go up and you go down. Radio me if you find Redfield. Get her out and I will go after Nikolai."

"Roger. Good luck." Night Hawk replied and ran passed him to the front, so he can continue and search the place.

...

Claire felt her head spin, her vision was painfully blurry and she could not exactly make sense of what was happening. She stayed still in the cold ground, she tried to move her hands and learned she were tied.

"No..." Her head jolted to the side as she tried to feel awake.

"Wake up sleeping beauty..." She heard a muffed voice in front of her.

"Who… what?"

Once her vision cleared, she saw a grey wall in front of her and a figure. Nikolai placed his hand behind his back. "Where am I?" She asked sharply. However she felt a serious chill in her bones.

"Welcome back." Nikolai spoke.

"I demand an answer right now." Claire shouted with all the strength she can muster.

"Unfortunately darling, you must have to be here in order for our plan to work."

"What!?" she looked at the ground as if she is trying to process what she just heard. Nikolai took a picture frame from the table and brought it close to her face.

"Miss Redfield, meet Kristen. The traitor."

Claire stared at the picture carefully. A girl seems to be in her teens and she has dark red hair and pale skin. She wore what it seems to be military styled clothing. Heavy kevlar vest and belt equipped with weapons.

"Had your records not been there to confirm your existence. I would assumed you as a twin or had slight surgery done." Nikolai commented. "With your help, we will go further with our plans."

The girl in the picture had emerald eyes. She was in what it seems to be wooded area, standing alone. There is no doubt, Claire does resemble this girl.

"Wait, what does she have to do with anything?" Claire felt her bearings return to her with clearer vision. Worried beyond belief of what she's mixed with exactly. Silently cursing her bad luck.

"All in time."

"If you think I will allow you to use me like this. You are mistaken." Claire frowned in his direction, she moved both of her leg up and kicked his chin. The force of her sudden move made the chair to shake and she fall on her back harshly. She moaned in pain and started working on her hands as much as possible.

Nikolai rattled back in pain, still smiling however. "Feisty one." He said and pulled her back up roughly. He tapped the top of her head and went out through the door.

She heard him talk to someone and then the sound of the door been locked.

Claire saw a glass of water in a small table in front of her, and she couldn't help the smile that broke across her face. Claire started moving the chair to the side, doing her best to remain close to the table.

After a harsh pushups, she was able to position herself exactly with her hands touching the table. She put all her weight to push the table and the glass fell. Claire barely held the glass over the edge.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips. She pushed the glass roughly over the table, shattering it to large pieces. "Yes." she whispered and start working to free her arms.

"Rope… seriously?" Claire got to work.

 **..Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this :)**

 **I know I have been really late in updating, but I'll try my best to update again next week. You have my word, I'm not abandoning this. :)**

 **Special thanks to my beta reader The95will.**


	19. Chapter 18 Revenge

**Chapter 18. "Revenge."**

Claire stepped back from the chair, a dozen thoughts flickered and only disorganize her mind. All this new information that he just explained. If she is going to die, she'll make a fight worth remembering. Once she peeked under at the slight space under the steel door, she saw a silhouette with two pillars to block the light, a guard.

"Think Claire..." she whispered and paced back and forth. 'How I will get out of here?'

Something sparked in her mind that made her smile deviously. Claire crouched next to the door.

She swallowed a lump on her throat then screamed. "No, let me go!"

She moved far from the door slightly and kicked the chair to the ground. "No please!"

After a moment of silence she heard the sound of keys, and the handle of the doorknob turning slowly.

Claire took the frame off the table and moved back to the wall, prepared herself mentally. The door opened and a man entered. "What the hell?" Before he was able to question further, Claire stood up and broke the frame over his head, and just for safety measure she punched the back of his head as strong as she can muster.

The man moaned and fell face down, slamming his head over the table on the way. "Hook, line and sinker." She laughed. Claire knelt down and searched his belt. The man carried an ALFA Defender. She opened the magazine to check and it was full.

"More reliable than any person." She could not help but mutter to herself while she looked over her shoulder.

She searched the unconscious guard for more ammunition. Real humans are the targets this time. Not that she was particularly comfortable with this, but all that time practicing boxing with Chris wasn't for nothing. To her luck there was one ammo box and she placed in her front pocket on her uniform.

Claire stood in front of the door and took a long breath. "Alright Claire, you can do it." She encouraged herself. "You survived worse than this."

...

Follow me under and pull me apart  
I understand there's nothing left  
Pain so familiar and close to the heart  
No more, no less I won't forget

...

Hunk stepped over shards of a broken glass, as he went through the steel door in front of him. He found himself in a small circle room with the Umbrella emblem painted on the ground. There was a pile of broken practice dummies in the corner.

"This place?" He leaned in slightly, eyes shut. He felt dizzy as it was little too much to be normal, when out of nowhere he heard the sound of laughter.

Once he opened his eyes, Hunk saw two children being playful, the boy practiced against a dummy.

"Giving up James?" The short little girl teased while she smacked a wooden blade on the dummy. "You're soft and squishy."

"No! I'm tough I can do it." The boy replied sending then rippled a painful shock throughout Hunk.

He saw himself stabbing her in the chest with his knife, his red eyes filled with a growing fury as he forced her down to her knees. The memory cut off as the boy finally sent powerful struck against the dummy and it fell, broken.

"I win." The boy shouted happily.

The girl let go of her knife and jumped in his arms hugging him. "My hero!"

Hunk jolted back and fell on the ground, his eyes darted over the room and there was nothing. He felt out of breath, like he ran a marathon.

"Poor James… Are you lost?" He heard a voice through the microphone.

Hunk leaned on his knees and unlatched the straps of his mask until he took it off. He gasped for air like he suffered from an asthma attack, as he kept it in hand.

The red lenses of the gas mask stared over the room and reflected everything it observed.

"No..." He heaved the word. He stared down at his gloved hands, shaking. The stench of everything in the area assaulted his senses. The putrid smell of rot with the dust.

"Truth hurts doesn't it? James Ethan Murphy."

Hunk pulled himself together and took the mask, adjusting perfectly on his head. As much as he hate to admit it, a lot was thrown in his mind. This is too much to handle.

He hurried through the door and found himself in a bridge leading to a clean white corridor up-ahead. Down beneath him he saw a familiar sight.

A young man with a black curly hair, wearing a heavy jacket and busy clashing with a number of hunters. "Chris Redfield." He murmured... With a chuckle, he crouched down and continued to the front, walking lightly to not draw attention to himself.

Hunk faced a metal double door, where he could see steam emanate from under it. As soon as he came closer the handles turned, opening the door for him. He felt a cold breeze inside. It was white and full of steam. Ice cubes were scattered in both sides, right in the front he saw a machine before a big glass window overlooking a large hall down. Most likely dry ice, so he refrained from touching anything.

"What is this?" He backed tracked and breathed. He bent his knees and prepped himself, then sprinted at full speed toward the glass and jumped. Glass shattered all over and Hunk landed down on his feet. Bits of loose glass just rolled along his uniform.

"So you are finally here." Someone spoke. "I'm so touched. My dear son is finally here"

 _Dear son_ , the word sent chills down his spine. He looked up and saw on the other side over a glass window. John with all his arrogance and glory. Watching him with arms behind his back, and smug smile worthy to be punched off.

"My apologies, daddy. I was so eager to meet my family, I did not bring a gift with me for this special reunion." It was a good thing that the gasmask hide his face, the rage underneath bubbled out as he aimed his weapon.

John paced slowly, left and right. "Do you feel a headache? Are you confused and no longer realize what you are anymore? You can tell me, talk to me honey."

Hunk was silent, unsure of what to say next. He narrowed his expression and gritted his teeth. John chuckled loudly to provoke him even more, for he knew how to hit a nerve perfectly. "I'm your father? I know you more than anyone else in this world." John pointed down at him. "Every moment of your life has led to this son. You were born for this purpose. You were the killing machine we needed."

"What the hell are you babbling about old man!?" Hunk screamed. "Stop with the mind games and face me!"

"What you call mind games, I call them truth. Whether you admit or not, it will make you doubt yourself." John pointed with his index finger.

Hunk saw that there was some sway in how his hands uncharacteristically trembled. "Whatever you are planning, it's not going to work. I promise you that." Hunk fired back then made a beeline to the front door.

Once he was alone, he could not help but to repeat the words 'We controlled for a bigger picture'

Control... Is this the truth he refuses to accept? Is he really devoid of any choice and freedom like a human begin? He can almost hear it, the voices.

..Loud cries from a child echoed through the room. Four men were ganging up and pinning the boy to the bed, face down. The boy's hands were pulled behind his back. The pillow is stained with his hot tears.

"No... Please!" The boy sobbed painfully. The medicine and treatments that went through his system. The boy lost his voice, he whimpered and trembled slightly as the men let go of him at last. He felt a hand touch his cheek mockingly. "You will thank me later, boy." The man's voice echoed in his ear.

"Your pride is going to be the end of you." Sienna's voice played in his mind.

The moment was cut short as two Hunters broke through the glass of the hall. Hunk bit his lip and prepared himself. The first hunter hissed a horrible sound, the first jumped with his left claw with a strike.

Hunk ducked and sidestepped swiftly. He aimed with his gun and fired non-stop in its hip during mid-flight. The creature screech before it was blasted back by the force of the bullets. The other hunter charged with both his claws, he felt a hard hit over his mask that made him rattled back a little but he had the reflex and dodged the other arm. He pulled his knife out and pushed it in the creature's chest, followed by the gun shots with his other hand through the creature's eyes.

He stopped for a moment to catch his breath as the creature fell under him. Hunk started walking to the front in a slow steps, like a lost shadow. Once he stopped in front of the door, it slid open before him and he saw a barrel of a handgun.

"Hunk? Unbelievable." Claire mused as she lowered her gun. "Why are you here?"

However Hunk immediately saw what was around her neck, the small mark. "Do you see the trouble I'm in. Who the hell is John? what does he want from me?"

He bared his teeth and charged at her, jumping, He grabbed her arm, however before he had the chance Claire used her other arm to draw the gun and a light flashed from her barrel as Hunk put his hand over the gun and twisted it for the shot to hit the ground. "He is nothing more than a rich brat hungry for power." He shouted.

Claire tried to punch him straight in the jaw but he blocked it with his forearm. "So much he sold his own sons freedom." Claire's face was a mix of a shock and anger as she try to defend herself.

He watched her with intense focus and with his other arm, he tried to sock her in the nose. In response, she pulled her arms up and ducked back. Seeing in how oddly out of place that punch was, Claire bent her back and punched his abdomen. Then shoved him back. She ran toward him, swinging her arm back for another blow. Quickly he used his gun again and ducked the punch. Turning on his heel, He pointed his gun at her head, it's over, and she's lost. "To top it all off, that filthy bastard is my father." He heaved.

Claire's expression softened. "What...? But.."

"What do you know about a dysfunctional family?! You are a princess who got everything she ever wished for." He cut her off then lowered his gun and turned away from her.

Claire noticed the glittering tears at the side of his eyes. He was legitimately crying. Something she never imagined to see, ever.

He in the other hand can hear it all, at the back of his mind. "I know you have a heart, even if they say otherwise. You are going to help me if I'm in trouble right?" Kristen whispered.

Her voice vanished and it was replaced with Claire. A horrifying transition. "I lost my parents at young age. I will never claim that I understand what you are going through, but I did not have it easy either." She whispered."I deserve answers, I have been dragged into this."

She did not get a reaction from him.

He clinched his fists. Nobody could ever figure out what it's like. "Leave me alone," He finally talked. "Get out of here now. This is between them and me."

"Do you want to die?" Claire asked, still in denial of witnessing such a heartbreaking sight, or perhaps this is for her to open her mind and understand. She's supportive, whether she liked it or not, her conscience will nag her about this. It's going to hurt if she walked away.

She does owe him after everything happened between them in that town.

"I don't care, I never had freedom to begin with." He continued.

"Did you know that you opened my eyes for a truth I denied?" She commented.

"Leave me alone, my life made sense before I met you."

"What the hell are you afraid of?" She shouted, "I thought I was going to die, since I was taken here because of you, but I was surprised once again by you showing up here for me."

"You saved my life remember?" Hunk checked his gun one more time.

"Since when do you care? Aren't you the one who says mission is over everything?" She argued and paused for a second. "I understand now. You have humanity within, you actually care for me, and you are afraid of it."

Hunk clicked with his shoes and walked away, leaving her alone to her thoughts. "It's called a debt, I owe you and after this. We're done."

He'd been exhausted before, but the relentless pain of his head had sent him to some delirious place that he'd never imagined could exist. His thoughts spiraled, uneasy bursts of feeling that he couldn't seem to sort through, at least not to his satisfaction; he knew what had to be done.

As if he'd taken some drug that had overloaded his senses, and would only let him think a bit at a time. It was almost over. That was something he could hold on to, one of the only constants in his muddled mind. Is this what it feels like for someone like him getting his memory back? Not much of what it cracked up to be.

Until a howling, terrible laugh knifed into his mind, and he jerked back to life, panting and afraid...

And then he realized what had snapped him out of his daydream, and his thoughts came together, of his goal he needed to finish.

It was Nikolai.

That bastard had to pay for sending him to a trap, he never was so sure about something as this.

A score that was never settled.

The laugh and footsteps sounded again, this time echoing away into one of the darkened corridor ahead of him as he went down and down the stairs like it seems it went deeper in hell.

Hunk closed his eyes again, taking a breath to relax. He turned on his flashlight strapped on his gear and continued onward.

The half lit corridor was dirty, he could see rats moving about, and however these rats were no way normal. Their fur looked stained and tattered in patches of rotten flesh. Their eyes were pure red and caught the whiff of his scent. They screeched then skittered toward him.

Hunk fired at the nearest rat and he slammed his boot down to smash another one. He shook head and ran down the corridor ignoring the rest hungry for his blood.

There was another steel door with a small bars to peek inside. He did not wait for anything and just kick the door open. He found himself in another cylinder-shaped hall, however it was a bit smaller for it to be underground.

There was a wide machine with a long needle like thing attached to it. Right in front of it stood Nikolai with all his glory. "Welcome Mister Death. I should have known you would survive."

"I said it before, you better hope we won't meet again." Hunk grumbled loudly."You do really want to court with Death, aren't you Nikolai?"

"I did what must be done. For a bigger picture, for the good of this company." Nikolai turned to face him. "You were a failed tyrant that needed to be stopped, and burn all the secrets along with you. The world still wants B.O.W."

Tyrant… Hunk felt the word sting deep. "No one ever betrays me and get away with it." He whispered and drew his knife.

"Is that why you killed your girlfriend?" Nikolai commented."You remember don't you?"

"I never did anything to hurt her. I never got closure because of you and all of the people responsible of the kidnappings years ago." He commented, anger evident in his voice. "The Human Unit Never Killed project, a bunch of heartless bitches created it to rival the failed Wesker children. Ideal soldiers."

"Since when you are the embodiment of humanity? Our precious hunters are hungry." Nikolai retorted.

Hunk rushed at Nikolai. He dipped and weaved with the knife. Sparks of metal flashed in front of their faces as the both sides looked at each other.

Nikolai danced around his strikes and he only caught few hits in the process.

Quickly, before Nikolai could respond with a follow-up, Hunk swiftly punched him in the abdomen, stunning him for a brief moment. He dived down with his knife and carved a large gash on Nikolai's left cheek and down to his chest.

In kind, Nikolai stomped his right foot and a hidden blade ejected out of his boot and was raised while Hunk backed off. It struck the left side of Hunk's hip. The blood seeped as the red lenses stared back at his opponent.

"Relax, it's not dipped in poison." Nikolai leaned back and kept his knife close. "I want to enjoy this."

Hunk drew his own knife as a smirk graced Nikolai's lips.

The boot still had the blade out as Hunk made the first move. He brought his right elbow forward as Nikolai charged in and took the brunt of that elbow with his left arm and Hunk attempted to use his other hand to stab.

The counter however left Hunk wide open for that Nikolai brought his left arm and tugged around Hunk's right arm. It wormed around as Nikolai pulled Hunk forward and caused him to lose balance for a moment. The Silver Fox brought his right arm to elbow punched Hunk in his sternum. With the added force, Nikolai pulled back and there was a _POP_ sound.

Hunk groaned to himself then brought his right fist in and jabbed hard into Nikolai's windpipe.

The two took a step back from each other.

Just from the pain, Hunk knew that his left arm was dislocated out of its socket. He walked to a nearby pillar and aligned his shoulder. He shoved it forward and felt a wave of pain but the arm was back in place.

Nikolai shook his head as he breathed in through his nose and cleared his throat. He coughed then refocused on his target. Once that was done, Nikolai reached for his lower back then drew a M1911A1 handgun. Hunk ducked behind the pillar then drew his own weapon.

The flashes of light burst out as Hunk flinched at every shot as Nikolai walked over to a pillar for him to take cover behind. Hunk had his pistol in his right hand to make himself a smaller target he fired from around his left side.

Nikolai noticed the light and adjusted his aim.

One two!

Nothing happened

Three, Four, FIVE.

A bullet skit off the pillar and made a dent at a glass container. And Hunk moaned lowly to himself as he peered away from cover. A bullet made it through and Hunk patted his shoulder. Just from how there a direct burning sensation for the rest of his arm. His collarbone was split apart and the bullet over-penetrated.

That means throwing any punches or getting hit, is going to cause some immeasurable pain.

Hunk also noticed the lack of gunfire from Nikolai. Boots scuffed on the metal floor as Nikolai was there and brought his backwards knife and swiped at Hunk's chest.

He shifted to his side as his collarbone would screamed at him. He pointed his gun out and pulled the trigger. _CLICK!_

Hunk should have counted…

"Rookie mistake!" Nikolai leaned on his left side to relieve pressure off his right leg. Thanks to the red lenses, Hunk was able to tell that he clipped Nikolai in his right thigh. The blood loss did not look bad but that would hinder him if the adrenaline doesn't get the better of Hunk.

Sure the pain was there, but this was the numbed version of it.

Hunk leaned in and did a clear horizontal slash to which Nikolai raised his blade and blocked the knife while Hunk centered himself. Nikolai rolled his shoulders back and tossed his blade forward and Hunk was forced to deflect it.

By that point Nikolai closed the distance. He raised his right leg up and went in front of Hunk's waist and the left leg went to his back waist. A scissor take-down. Hunk was brought to the ground as Nikolai shifted his torso back then his left hand reached for Hunk's left leg. He pulled back to the point that he wanted to shatter the bones.

Hunk remembered this from how the UBCS would train its troops. Before Nikolai could take advantage of situation, Hunk clenched a right fist and hammered down into Nikolai's exposed bullet wound. Bits of blood got on Hunk's glove as Nikolai bared his teeth of the pain.

Hammer after hammer, Nikolai eventually lost his grip.

Hunk rolled to his side and got back on his feet. Nikolai took several deep breaths as he looked up at Hunk. The blood seeped to the side of Nikolai's cheek and painted over his white sideburns.

"Get up." Hunk barked.

"…" Nikolai rolled to his left and took a knee. "That's the spirit." He slowed his breathing and prepped for another go.

Both men stared at each other.

Hunk kept his blade close as Nikolai did the same. Hunk made the first move by a flinch forward. The Silver Fox responded by putting his weight on his left leg and anchored himself to still remain standing. The right leg reached out and missed Hunk's lower rib cage by a hair.

The leg came back before Hunk could slash him. However Hunk sprinted forward and raised his right leg and riot kicked the other leg that Nikolai supported himself on. It cause Nikolai to land hard on his back. From there Hunk stomped on Nikolai's chest and broke a rib.

Nikolai leaned up and slashed at Hunk's shin. He endured the hit and kicked Nikolai on his cheek. He spat out blood in the hit and looked away from Hunk for a moment.

Blood soaked his teeth as Nikolai laughed to himself. "You never lost your touch!" He looked back up as he noticed Hunk offer him a hand.

"I always hated you." Hunk admitted as Nikolai took his hand. He pulled the Silver Fox on his feet.

Nikolai and Hunk were just mere feet away from each other.

Both drew each other close to complete exhaustion. Hunk jabbed forward and cut outer forearm of Nikolai. A slash came from Nikolai's boot. Hunk had a cut on his stomach. Any deeper, and his intestines would have spilled out.

A knife came down and shoved into the red lens of Hunk's eyepiece. The Silver Fox used both hands to force the blade deeper. It splintered and cracked apart. The lens popped out as Hunk tilted his head to the side as it cut into the side of Hunk's nose and center cheek. Hunk used his right hand to go underneath Nikolai's arms.

The uppercut came up into Nikolai's jaw. He was not careful as he bit his tongue in the process. In the moment of losing focus. Hunk got the knife out of his face then grappled Nikolai. He shoved him back and used his elbow to smack Nikolai into a pillar.

The force was enough that the side of Nikolai's skull fractured. Nikolai witness his opponent bring a knife sideways so it can stab the organs underneath the rib cage. The attack was sloppy and only pierced right side of his chest. Hunk brought his elbow in again but Nikolai plunged his blade into Hunk's forearm. It was through the center and carved forward.

Hunk pulled back as nerves fired off in his body, then cupped his arm. Nikolai moved from the wall and knee kicked Hunk's gas mask. He moved to the side and the two were where they started.

Hunk pulled the knife out of his arm and Nikolai did the same with the one that stuck out of his chest. Now armed with the other's blade, they continued onward. Slash after slash, strike after strike

Blow for blow.

By the end of the onslaught. Hunk was out of breath and his upper body and arms were completely covered in gashes and cuts. Nikolai coughed blood with the similar amount of damage to his overall body.

Below, the blood that seeped to the lower level only put the Hunters into a frenzy. They anxiously brushed their claws on the foundations and waited for one of them to end the other.

One eye was through the lens and the other naked eye stared at his enemy. It was distracting, and now frustrated. Hunk took the knife and dug into the side of the gas mask. And forced the other lens to pop out.

"That's better." Hunk muttered as he narrowed his vision.

"You know, I filed a report that I thought the HUNK program was better for the company." Nikolai composed himself. "Glad to see I was right."

"I'll tell you this. If it was a success, then I wouldn't be here." Hunk fired back.

"The world will always need soldiers and unsympathetic bastards like us to do what others are too scared to do."

"I can't speak for those who fight for a cause." Hunk reversed his blade and bent his knees then leaned back. "I died a long time ago."

"Cute." Nikolai took his own stance.

"Killing you can be a cause." Hunk charged forward.

"You need to aim higher!" Nikolai shouted.

The two went at it. A cut to the chest, little care for in terms of defense. Just to bring the other to their knees. Nikolai aimed for an artery as Hunk did the same.

Nikolai's left arm went and slashed the side of Hunk's thigh. Blood constantly seeped out as Hunk shoved Nikolai back into a pillar again. This time, Nikolai had the unpleasant benefit of his left eye popping out of its socket.

Hunk's knife came down into the left side of the shoulder and was forced downward. The bone spit open and blood just poured out. Nikolai groaned in pain as he brought his blade and stabbed Hunk in the chest.

It went through the heart.

Still with the adrenaline running through his system. At last Hunk placed his legs over Nikolai's chest and he threw off to the Hunter's pit in the middle of the machine. Hunk stood at the edge of the machine watching Nikolai squirm and scream. The hunters were hissing happily as they tore him apart.

However his moment of victory was cut short. He fell on his knees moaning in pain and the sensation of something moving in his veins. His vision started to blur again. "…About time..."

The blade stuck out of him as he drifted in and out of consciousness.

Through an agonizing pain he fell into darkness, before he lose it all he heard the sounds of footsteps approaching him. "It's time my son." John whispered as placed his hand under his knees and the other over his shoulders and carried him. John felt a bullet fired over the wall right next to him.

"Let my brother go, now!" Night Hawk spoke in a cold, murderous tone, as he stood over the threshold of the elevator at the back of the hall.

"You're too late." John smirked and started heading to the door near the machine.

"Hey!" Night Hawk screamed then he fired like crazy at him but his effort were futile. John vanished through the door and heard the sound of a lock. Night Hawk stood in the middle of the hall, his red lense googles stared at the blank door in front of him. "James why!"

 **...Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this and it was worth the build up. Please leave a review with your thoughts...**

 **Special thanks to my beta reader The95will for his help.**


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